Clyde's Comeback!

First day off. I enjoyed the New Years day at the annual golf tournament at Green Springs. It's set up as a 5-man scramble format. We finished the day at 8 under par. Not great but we improved from last years 6 under score. It took ALL day. We got to the club house at 9:30 and teed off at 10 a.m. and finally finished at 4:30 p.m.

After that was over I just came home and watched football the rest of the night.

I wasn't going to run at all this week but I met up with Steve O. at the gym and he took me through a "boot camp" type workout for my legs. We just jogged on all the running parts. It was more for a warm-up, and recovery during the workout.

My legs just took beat down Monday night RAW style. We did squats, lunges, and that kind of stuff with low weights and high rep's. Overall a great workout and more strenuous than if I'd gone out for a 14 mile run. It's a good thing I'm not running this week because tomorrow I won't be able to walk I'll be so sore.

I'd like to condition my legs into doing something like this once a week for the rest of the winter. I could see big boosts in speed from a workout like this if done along side mid- high mileage running.

For my workout today I did a full wrestling practice.I pretty much got the heart rate up and a sweat going for two hours. With the sore legs from the workout on Wednesday with Steve O. my body is officially trashed. Now I'm sore from the neck down to my pinky tow. Despite the soreness I'm really glad to have gotten in such good workouts without even really running.

1 hour spin class where I road for 19.8 miles.

20 min's warm-up on the elliptical before spin class.

Another good solid non- running workout. That will be all- as tomorrow I'll be back to running again. My legs are still totally sore from the lifting workout on Wednesday. So the spin class was that much harder. I tried to push myself and keep the resistance up as much as possible. Other than my legs being so sore prior to the class- the class it's self was a blast. Steve O. does a excellent job with the instruction and keeping everyone in there working.

I'll hit another wrestling workout this afternoon. Not as intense as yesterday. Just the core workout stuff today.

Well I ended my "time off" phase today. After taking the last four days off of running it was time to get back in the saddle. I actually finished those days more sore than if I had been running. My legs are starting to feel better from the lifting workout the other day with Steve O. but my left hamstring is crazy tight. I don't think it's tore but it sure hurts.

Today I took the run as easy as I could allow my self to. Just to ease back into running. I had a photo finish with the 7 min guy and I didn't know it at the time. The run felt great though I could have gone for hours but didn't want to over due anything. The hamstring is very tight but as long as I don't push the pace at all it doesn't seem to bother me much when I'm running. It actually feels better running than it does walking?

Now that I've had my break I'm ready to slide back into some real training. I'll try and catch 70-90 mpw for the rest of the wrestling season and get a couple weeks over 100 in before Del Sol along with some good speed stuff. Then after that I'll work into my 120 mpw.

8 mile run this morning on the GS loop and back the long way through Middleton. The rainy overcast has made the temp very nice so it was a lot easier to get out this morning even though it was still dark.

8 more miles this afternoon before practice. Just easy up into the reserve and down around GS. Left hammy is still sore but not too bad.

It's half time in the game and I'm going to bed. I can't stand the thought of watching LSU win- and with the way Ohio St. is playing I'm not going to look.

(Cumulus Blue 66)

9.2 miles this morning. GS/Powerline and the long finish. A little colder this morning but still not bad. The left hammy is very tight walking around the house but as I get out and run it doesn't seem to bother me. So I'll try not to aggravate it and just take the pace fairly easy.

(Stratus 51.8)

8 mile run this afternoon. It's a lot more like winter today than it was last week. I prefer the wet, warmer weather. Went out on a pretty empty stomach and within 3 miles of starting the run all I could think about was coming home and eating everything in the house. Then my excitement for food turned to fatigue. I was so low on fuel I could hardly keep going. Anyways I managed to make it back and started in on some granola and yogurt.

11 mile morning loop. Up through the industrial park to the water tank and then looped around GS back home. I miss calculated my timing because when I got the water tank (4.5 miles in to the run) it was still dark. So once I hit the trail going was slow until I could see better. Nice way to start the day. The weather is misty and wet out... but a little warmer than the day before.

5 more miles on the treadmill after wrestling practice. After a mile warm up I did one of the miles at 12% incline and then brought it back down before I passed out. I'll call that my hill workout for the month.

In all seriousness I need to start getting a good hill workout in once a week.

Ran up to the new Washington overpass and around through Dog Town and then up the Mill Creek trail until it cuts off to GS- Then down through GS and back home.

The rest of my week will be touch and go getting in runs. I have a wrestling duel tonight and then a tournament Friday and Saturday.

Same run as yesterday morning. Really didn't want to get up and go out in the dark today. But once I was out running I felt very good and was able to get into a good gear. It's kind of fun getting back into shape- and remembering what it's like to be able to find a good stride and stay with it.

8 cold, dark and slow miles before I left for Cedar this morning. If we finish early enough this afternoon I may get out again.

(Stratus 59.8)

12 miles this morning. Ran the Dog Town/ New overpass loop in reverse- then added some in GS. Felt really fresh and smooth for a Monday. I hope to get some strong mileage in Mon-Thurs because this weekend will be very tight in time.

8.6 miles tonight after practice. Ran from the high school down to the river trail and up around Costco and home. When I was down by the river below Millcreek High I saw three teenagers who had sunk a new Ranger ATV in the river. It was pretty funny but I'll bet their parents are going to kill them. Those things are at least 10k a piece.

(Cumulus 74.6)

12 miles this morning. Same run as yesterday morning. A little sore and tired this morning from the workouts yesterday. Hopefully through the rest of wrestling I can continue to get in decent mileage so in the weeks that follow I can be ready to go.

The run today was good. I decided that the hill up out of Washington to the new overpass is a killer. It's just a long straight away and the hill keeps going and going. Other than that part this is a pretty good little 12 mile run and it's good because it only feels like a 9 miler.

8 mile run this evening after practice. I got home right at dusk and for some crazy reason wanted to run up to the powerline in the dark. So I started up the trail and tried to pull it off by memory. I stumbled a few times but made it up there and then dropped down into GS and did the usual loop. I picked up my new race team jacket from Steve tonight and they look great. I wore it tonight for a test drive. Now it's time for dinner and bed.

12 mile morning run. Broken record here but I did the same run as the last two mornings. It was cold out this morning and I really struggled to warm up. I didn't have a watch on but I ran it about 8 min's slower than the last two days. I never got into it. Anyways at this point I'm glad it's in the bank.

(Stratus 71.8)

9.6 miles tonight. Actually I ran from my house to wrestling practice down through town. Then ran home after practice back over Formaster and up past Costco. It's cold and windy.

12 mile run this morning. Same as the rest of the week. Other than today it was cold. In the ballpark of 23 or so. That's chilly for STG. Too chilly I might add. Anyway I just went out and tried to have a good attitude the whole run making sure I had good posture and tried to keep it flowing... I did an o.k job on all but nothing great.

(Cumulus 86.6)

No running today. We left STG early to travel up to Orem to the Rocky Mountain Rumble one of the biggest wrestling tournaments this side of the Mississippi. We had a pretty good day but didn't get done until about midnight.

Got up early after a long day to hit the hotel treadmill. It was a junker... but it got me a few miles and a little quick workout.

Then back to UVU for more wrestling. We ended up doing fairly well. There was 60 teams there from all over the western region. We finished 8th and if one more kid would have won one more match on our team we would have been 6th. So it was a very good showing against some of the best competition you can get. It ended up finishing late Saturday night and I finally got home to STG at 3 a.m. Sunday morning. What a long weekend!

(Stratus 78)

9.1 mile run this morning up around GS and back the long way around Middleton. I felt very fresh and good for Monday. I just have to keep squeaking out some decent milage until wrestling is over Feb 16, and hopefully then I can start really training again.

(Stratus 87.1)

11 mile run up into GS then up onto the powerline trail and over to the water tank- then down around industrial park and home. Not a bad run. I had some food about a half hour before I left on the run and it kept coming up into my throat but other than that the run was fine. I'm not really ready for full on speed work but I'm getting to the point where I'm starting to crave a little tempo stuff or small surges during the runs. Most likely I'll just keep working on my base miles until the middle of February and then try to find a little speed somewhere. So for now I'll have to be happy with the short tempo/surges.

12 mile morning run. Up around Dogtown to the new overpass. Then down into GS and around back to Middleton. It was overcast last night so the weather this morning was pretty nice. But the word on the street is there's a storm coming. I had to stop for a bathroom break- that is the first in a long time.

8 mile run this afternoon. I didn't have a watch on but I had the peddle down most of this run. Had to rush to finish before wrestling practice.

(Stratus Red 8)

12 miles this morning. Standard Dogtown/ new overpass loop. It was pretty cool out and I had a hard time getting anything to roll. Plus I left a little earlier than usual so I could just kind of poke along.

(cumulus blue 98.6)

8 mile run tonight. I had to go blow off some steam after my wrestlers just dropped the ball and forgot to show up tonight. Sometimes coaching sucks!

(white cumulus 8)

Big workout this morning. I had the morning scheduled for a big run but the weather wasn't playing nice. I was going to get out of the house by around 8 or so but it was raining and cold out. In the summer I dream of running in the rain but being soaked and cold only leads one way for me- to trouble. So anyways I waited around and almost talked myself out of going and then decided that it was now or never. So at 10:30 I left the house and it was pretty nice for the first 1.4 miles then for the next 4 miles after that I got rained on and yes soaked. The good news is that right after the rain the sun came out and kind of warmed me up- plus I had on clothing that dries out fast.

About the run. Ran from Middleton up skyline drive to the road that cuts down off the hill by main. Then took that down to the Dixie center and the trail up to the post office then back over into Bloomington Hills and back up to my In-laws house to grab a drink and take a GU. That put me at 10.8 and I was feeling great.

Then I dropped down on the road past Stone Cliff and around into Washington fields up past the Hooper Estate and onto the corn maze road. This took me around the hill and over the bridge up into Washington- up under the freeway and back home. It ended up being a little long so when I got to 20 miles I turned it off and just jogged very easy back to the house the .6 for a good cool down.

I did very well until around 16 and then I started to fall off the pace and after crossing the bridge in Washington fields I struggled up the hill until I went under the freeway. But that is to be expected. I haven't done much of any long runs since pre- STG marathon. Maybe like a couple 16 milers here or there but not much. It will be good to get them back into the diet and condition the body for more than just a hour and a half run.

Ended up finishing the run at 7:03 min/mile pace

(Stratus 107.1)

Only had time for a shorter run this morning before we have to leave. Legs felt pretty good after the run yesterday.

(Red Stratus 16)

Wrestling in Delta today. The team wrestled good as opposed to the other night. We went 9-0 and even beat Delta at home. The good news is the tournament was finished by around 3:30 and we were on our way home with plenty of time to get home and get a run in.... Then just past Beaver on I-15 our bus pulled off the freeway and had blown a hose and was overheating. So for a hour and a half we sat there on the side of the road while another bus was brought to us from the Beaver school district. What a mess that turned out to be. So by the time we go home I was out on running for the night. Instead of it being like 7 or so it was past 9 and the bed looked really nice. Bummer!

12.5 mile run this morning. Basically the same run as I've been doing up around the new overpass. I just did one section a little different and it made it a little longer. I felt pretty good and just ran whatever felt good. It was pretty muddy on the dirt parts so that made the going even slower. I picked up a small head cold this weekend that I'd like to get rid of ASAP.

7.5 mile run this afternoon on the treadmill. I've been home all day still feeling pretty sick but talked myself into doing a run as long as I stayed inside. I'm glad I stayed in. It turned into a white-out hail storm out side and I would have been right in the middle of it.

The workout was pretty good after a warm-up I dropped it down to 6:30 min/mile pace and just listened to the music.

(White Cumulus 15.5)

3.5 miles this morning on the treadmill. I'm home again sick. It was too cold to consider a run outside with the sickness so I hit the treadmill for a short little shake out. I'm feeling about the same as yesterday but feel like recovery is close at hand. If things go well I'll try a run this afternoon outside...

(Red Stratus 19.5)

Well kind of a disappointing day or now week. This was suppose to be a 100+ mile week for me because I don't have much going on with wrestling but I'm pretty sick and running just isn't going to happen until I feel better. So for now I'm going to stop stressing on getting miles in and try to get healthy so I can run later this week and next. You just never know...

Still sick. Maybe getting worse. This time the raspberry tea isn't working. Had to skip wrestling practice today too. What a waste of a week.

Still sick but there may just be a light at the end of this tunnel.

I woke up feeling better than I have the last four days. All going well today I'll do a small run this afternoon and test the waters for Saturday morning.

9.2 miles before wrestling practice. Not a good run. Legs were not feeling like it was running time. I could tell that my body had been sick for the last few days. The nervous system and also the body were everywhere. My stomach rumbled the entire run making me stop twice to use the potty. I think that was mostly due to all the cold syrup left over down there just causing problems now.

(107.9 Blue Cumulus)

Good run this morning with Dave. Met up at the running store and ran out through Ivans up the road to Gunlock. Basically an out and back run. It was great running with Dave again. We just got into a little groove and clipped right along right at 6:50 min pace for the run. I'm excited to get back into the swing and start hitting the club runs again. Nice morning out too.

(128.1 Blue Stratus)

8 mile run this morning. Wow for the first time in my running career in STG I had to run in snow and ice. It rained most of the day yesterday and into the night it started to turn into ice and snow. My putting green in the back yard has about an inch and a half of standing snow on it! So the running conditions were slick. I tried to stay on the paved road as much as possible but in some places there was a thin layer of black ice and I'd be sliding all over. Other than that it was a pretty nice morning out. The cloud cover kept it fairly warm. Glad to be back running again. The weather said that by the end of the week it will be 62 degrees here. Smile.

(115.9 Blue stratus)

12 mile run this afternoon. I went out and was feeling pretty good. I got into a pretty good groove and just stayed in in that gear. I ran up into GS and did that loop twice and then came back and circled around Middleton until I hit 12 miles. Hit 6:35 min mile pace for the run.

12 mile morning run. It was a clear night last night which means it was ice cold this morning (for me). The good part about it being so cold is that I could run up in the dirt and mud and it wasn't an issue because it was all frozen solid. I did the new overpass loop.

(Red Stratus 31.5)

8 mile run this afternoon. Just an easy recovery type run up around GS.

(White Cumulus 23.5)

13.1 mile morning run. New overpass loop and then when I got to GS I ran up to the Powerline trail and then down into Middleton. It was dark until I got down into GS but when the sun started to come up it was awesome. Sometimes the sunrise over the desert is just amazing.

3 mile run on the treadmill this evening after a long day.

13.1 mile morning run. The same route as yesterday. I had a feeling my calculations were off about the distance so I wore the garmin today and I was off .2 - but overall not a bad guess. I used the "stick" last night and rolled my legs out and they felt great this morning. I just need to make myself do that every day. 

(Blue cumulus 121) 

13.1 mile morning loop around the overpass. I struggled to get up this morning. We finished our region wrestling tournament last night late and it was a long day. By the time I got home and in bed I was just trashed. So I was just lucky to get up today. But the run was actually pretty good once I got rolling and the legs felt pretty fresh from having yesterday afternoon off.

My varsity wrestlers did great. They won 8 of the 14 finals matches. They have been solid all year and should make a run at a top 3 spot in the state tournament next week in Orem. I wish I could say the same about our JV. Once again at the region tournament our JV really struggled- but when it comes right down to it I'd rather have a strong varsity that will score big at the state tournament than a JV team that can win region.

With that I'm one week away from being done with wrestling. Our state tournament starts next Wednesday at UVSU.... should be fun. I just have to find a way to run a little while I'm up there?

(white cumulus 36.6)

10.75 mile run this afternoon. It was a beautiful sunny afternoon in Dixie- the temperature at my house a 3 p.m. when I left on the run was 62. Pretty nice for the middle of winter. I ran up to the powerline and took it over to the Millcreek trail and down into GS and back home. When I left the house I was only going to go 7 or 8 but the weather changed my mind. I did have to stop for potty break. My tummy wasn't doing so well. It must have been my diet yesterday- Cafe Rio for lunch, followed up by pizza from the Pizza Factory for dinner, and a bunch of candy in the middle.

(Blue Stratus138.85) 

Good club run today. Steve, Dave, Mike and myself. We left from Dave's house and went out over the fields bridge then up past Indian Hills and through that valley to Sand Hollow. Then form there we just made our way back on the road through Coral Canyon and into Washington back up to Dave's house.

Dave and I cut back a couple times to bring in Steve and then we did .1 at his house to make it 21 for the day.

For the most part it was a pretty good run. I really liked seeing some new territory and running out in that back canyon. The last 5 miles in are on the main road and there is a lot of traffic but that was the only bad part. I think Dave and I finished at 7:04 min/ mile pace.  Which is pretty much how it went for most of the run but we did push it pretty good out for a few miles and then the last mile or mile and a half we really slowed down and just cooled down on in.  I was ready to be done when we finished. Yesterday's 23.75 and this mornings 21 crammed into a small time frame...started to take a toll.



(Red Stratus 52.5)

13.1 mile run. The overpass loop mostly in the dark. The run started out pretty hard as I was feeling pretty stiff and sore from last week. Then I started to loosen up as I made my way down off the trail into GS. Had to find a port-a-potty for a little roadside action. Then after that I struggled to get going again. So overall not the best run in the world for me. I will try to get out again this evening as we prepare to leave for Orem tomorrow morning for wrestling. I'll be up there the rest of the week.



( Blue Cumulus 134.1)

9.2  miles this afternoon. Went from the grass store up  the trail around the hill that Stone Cliff sits on- past the Hooper estate and back down River Side Dr. It was very nice this afternoon- shorts and a t' shirt. Good run.

14.1 mile morning run. Same usual loop other than I extended it around the first and last through Middleton. Again I used the stick last night and my legs felt way better this morning.

Now it's off to the northern tundra for the rest of the week for state wrestling. I'm not sure what kind of running I'll get in... but I've been planning on this week being down anyways due to state.

( Blue stratus 152.95)

6 miles around the motel in Provo.

(White cumulus 42.6)

12 laps around the Provo town mall parking lot. A pretty good run this morning.

(Red Stratus 66.5)

10.2 miles this morning. More laps around the mall parking lot. Today there was snow, ice, and slush. Get me back to the desert!

(Blue Cumulus 144.3)

4.65 more miles around the Mall. It really wasn't that bad running there. I'd do it again. No traffic, or lights and each lap was about 1.2 miles long depending on what tangents you ran.

(Red Stratus 71.1)

16 mile run this moring with Sasha, Ted, and Jeff.

9 degrees this morning in Provo. I'm just trying to get through this run and happy we are not doing a tempo or anything...

Sasha picked me up from my motel and we went back and did 6 miles before the other guys got there. As we were making our way back to meet up with those guys Sasha said we needed to run tempo speed to get back on time. So we pushed it out back up to the house... not too fun in the cold.

Then Ted and Jeff joined us and most of the rest was pretty laid back. We did pick it up a little at the end to catch and pass the 7 min guy.

Glad to get that one in the bank. This has been a long trip. I'll head home Saturday and try and run when I get there.

( White Cumulus 58.6) 

Finally got home after being gone all week up at the state wrestling tournament. This has been a long week. Some good, some bad, all very stressful and memorable. Now I'm just trashed. 

The run was down past the fire station, up the Millcreek trail, over the powerline trail to the water tank. Then down into the industrial park and back home. The weather was nice but I felt terrible. I think with everything all week I've just over did it a little and this run was almost too much. I had planned on going 16-18 but came home with a stomach ache and called it good.

The wrestling year has came and went. My 6th and final season as a coach at Dixie High. We ended up finishing in 4th place overall as a team and having two 1st place champions. It was good and bad. Good that some of the guys reached some big goals and bad that some of them didn't even do half of what they did the year before.  All and all I've loved it and loved the kids. I'll miss it next year but it's just time to be done... for now.  

13.3 mile run this morning. I did a version of the standard overpass loop. The legs felt a little heavier than usual. It was sure nice out though. I'll be lounging around the house the rest of the day before the afternoon run.

I'll try and get 120+ miles in this week before doing some kind of a mini taper next week before Del Sol.

(Red Stratus 84.4)

 13.3 mile run this afternoon. The same run as this morning. My legs felt a little faster and not so heavy but the stomach didn't. I had lunch and was going to wait for 2 hours to run but I got antsy and left just after an hour.  It just made for some interesting burps and stuff while running. Great day to run.

(White Cumulus 71.9) 

12.2 mile morning run. Over through the industrial park and up to the water tank. Then down over the powerline trail into GS- around the outside and back home the long way through Middleton. The long uphill to the water tank always reminds me of why I don't like to go that way... but it is a good hill workout. After that I just tried to run nice and easy back home. It ended up being 7:09 pace for the run. Not bad with all the uphills and trails. Today will most likely be a recovery day.

147.5 lbs



(Blue Cumulus 156.5)

9.3 miles this afternoon. Ran from the house up to the powerline down into GS and around back through Middleton. This was a lot better run than I thought it would be. After a couple really slow miles to get warmed up I started to hit 6:15 pace for the last 5 miles without much of an effort. Just hope to take it one day at a time and continue to feel good.

 (Blue Stratus 162.25)
 

13.7 mile run this morning. A little drizzly out this morning which helped the weather to fit my mood and pace. I just kept it slow from start to finish. Did the new overpass loop and changed some things around to mix it up a bit. It ended up making the run .6 longer. Hopefully it will clear up so I can get some work done in the back yard.

(Red Stratus 98.1)

6.3 miles this evening on the treadmill.  I had planned on going out for an 8 mile loop but it started raining and stuff so I just stayed in and ran on the treadmill. I did a couple miles in each pair of racing shoes I own to see how things are wearing. After analyzing three pair I realized that I really only have one pair that are worth anything. Anyways I felt o.k. and just stopped when I got to the mileage needed for 20 miles for the day.

10.75 mile run this morning. The GS/powerline/industrial park loop. Foggy and wet out this morning. I've been telling Paul that the weather in amazing this time of year... and it's turned kind of dull. Hopefully it will clear up for some of his and Stacy's trip down here.

3 mile mid day run with Paul after putting down some Cafe Rio. I even had a side of Key Lime pie. It is soo good there. At this point the food wasn't doing any real harm and we were just moving right along at around 8:30 min mile pace. Nice easy run with Paul. It's alway nice to run with him.

10.5 mile run with the club. The food I had earlier came back with a iron fist... so I got separated from the group while I stopped for a pit stop. Then I took a detour up around the club house at Sun Brook and then while coming back on the main road I ran back into the guys. I Googled the run that I did and it was 10.6 but I'll call it 10.5 for now until I check it with the GPS. Most of the time Google Earth is pretty close though.

Good to get back out with the club again. It's been a long time since I hit a Thursday run. I'm pumped for spring and summer and the progress everyone had made.

12.1 mile morning run. It was raining out early this morning and I hurt all over so going on a run was the last thing on my mind... but I went and it sucked but I'm glad it's in the bank. (blue cumulus 168.6)

18.2 Run with the club. Dave, James, Paul, and Hayden. We dropped Paul off after he smashed Lybi's 5k time. After we made our way over to Ivins Dave and I picked up the pace and ran a tempo back to the store area and then one mile cool down. The tempo was good about 5-6 miles at sub 6 min pace with the fastest mile being at 5:39 so nothing too fast but a good push. It was the first push or tempo type of run that I've done since last fall I think. Anyway it was a good workout to get ready for Del Sol.

(Stratus Blue 180.45)

Happy to hit a solid week of mileage. This is my biggest week ever. I was on pace to go over 130 but felt like I may have been asking for an injury so I cut out on my run Friday afternoon.
 

20.4 mile morning run. I got up and was getting ready to go out for a usual 10-13 mile run and as I was getting dressed the Winchester Hills loop was calling me. It was like I could feel there was a big bag of unmarked bills along the trail that I was intended to find. So I grabbed a GU and said my good byes to my lovely wife and little doggies and I was out to find my pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. The route I took up landed me right at 10 miles when I got to the golf course and got some water. That first 10 miles is a muther! Pretty much all uphill and on some rocky trails. But it was an awesome morning, and I found my prize in a rain washed, crisp desert morning.

Next was the 5 miles down the marathon course and 5 or so back up over the hill back home. Once I got on the paved road I just focused on running smooth and unlabored-hitting around 6:15 pace down to the light. Man I love running the STGM course. It's like the course and I have a secret bond.

Next was from the light back to the house. The not-as-cool part of my loop. I climbed up the hills and then hit three more sub 6:20's back to the house. Never kicked it into tempo gear just tried to relax and run. Anyways a great run to start what should be a great week with the Del Sol trip in just a few days.

(White Cumulus 92.3)

 3.4 miles this evening to shake the legs out before bed or whatever. I felt great all day after the long run this morning and just did this short little run to make sure I didn't get tight.

12.5 mile run this morning. I had to run by the Redbox at Albertsons to return a DVD so I went that way. After I dropped the movie off I ran down past Costco and turned left over to the dog pound then made my way up to the new overpass in Washington and looped back home by way of GS. Not as fun and exciting as yesterday but they can't all be dimes.

(red stratus 121.1)

 7.8 mile run this evening. Just did the powerline/GS loop with no extension into Middleton.  Feeling pretty trashed for some reason today. If things go right I think I may go in for a message tomorrow.  My body needs it.
 

13.3 mile run this morning. New overpass/ GS loop ish... Last night I felt pretty crappy on my run, but this morning I felt much better. Not like drop dead amazing but better than yesterday. I needed some extra motivation today so I took my Ipod and the music really helped take the edge off. I ended up pulling away from the 7 min guy and ran the run at 6:58 min pace.

(Blue cumulus 181.9)

4 more miles this afternoon to loosen up. Now I'll start a taper to be fresh for Del Sol this weekend.

(Blue Stratus 184..45) 

7.2 mile run this morning. Ran up into GS and then took the powerline trail back down into Middleton. Overall I'm pretty trashed right now for some reason. I hope that running less miles the next day or so will get me ready to race by Friday night.

(White Cumulus 99.5)

5 more miles this afternoon. Now it's time to start the trip to PHX. We will drive a few hours tonight and then meet the rest of the guys tomorrow at Lybi's in AZ.

(Stratus red 126.1 )

The Del SOUL Relay Trip where do I start. How about with a 1st place finish and a new course record by around an hour and a half!

I rode down with Steve Abraham Lincon Hooper, Dave, Logan, James, Adam, and Nick. We got a late start Thursday night so we drove to Vegas and spent the night in a swanky little joint know on the street as Sahara. Nice place! Highly recommended. So Friday morning we all got up and did a 5 mile run on the Las Vegas Strip and then made our way down the road to meet up with the other van of guys at the starting line of the race in Wickenburg, AZ.

Dave started our team off and then the order of our van went like this, Logan, Nick, Me, Walter, James. Our team had a 6 p.m start time with the rest of the projected faster teams. There were 5 teams that started at that time- one being our annual foes Google, and a running store out of AZ and 3 others that don't ring a bell at this time.

So the race starts and Dave and his guy from the running store battle shoulder to shoulder all the way to the hand off. Then Logan goes out and drops his guy like bad foreign language class. Nick did just as good and already we have a comfortable lead.

Now is my leg. (Leg #4 5.57 miles long @ 29:57- avg of 5:22 min per mile)

This was the best of my three legs on a performance basis. I went out on what seemed to be a slightly uphill course and was able to hold the pace even when it got hard. It was dark by now around 7:30 p.m. and we were running on a straight road against on coming traffic. Anyways not a lot to report on this leg other than I was really happy with my performance.

Walter, and James ran great 1st legs and we hand off the the other van with a 5 min led on the next team.  

4 miles of warm up and cool down miles and that will end it for Friday.  Now we head over to a local subway and eat sandwiches that will eventually come back up for a few of us. We then travel to the next major exchange and try to relax and sleep until the other guys get there. I was able to roll my bed out on a parking lot and lay down for about 2 hours (25 min) of which I was able to sleep.

10.3 race miles

1.7 warm up and cool down miles (not so good today)

My 2nd leg (Leg #16, 6.1 miles long, 34:07, 5:36 avg min mile pace)
In the land of relay’s you may be running a 6.1 mile race at 2:36 in the morning. That’s exactly what I did today. This was the most eventful leg I’ve ever run in my relay history. I took off and had about .2 miles of paved road and then it turned into gravel, with pot holes and keep in mind it’s dark. So the course was rolling (some up some down) and I’m stumbling up through grapefruit orchards and all this time I’m brewing up a witch’s brew in my stomach with that Subway from earlier, a chocolate GU, and way too much Gatorade. As I’m laboring to get things going I feel like I’ve been running for about 3 miles but don’t want to take time to look at my Garmin to see how far it’s actually been- so I wait until it beeps at the next mile and then the light comes on and I look to see where I’m at. It just about floors me that it only says 1 mile. I thought to myself there’s no way. But I just keep moving along and at mile 2 I start to get a good side ache. No problem I’ve had them before just keep running. Well 5 miles into the run I start to do little dry heaves. But I don’t think too much about it as now I’m starting some good downhill and almost done. Then it turned into about every 6 strides I’d heave and I had just passed three people and I knew they could hear me. However I was coming up on a girl and then I felt it coming and knew (this was the real deal) and vomit was coming out. As I got closer to her she could hear me loudly screaming, and making the puking sound. Then she turned around all scared and screamed “What way are you going to go ?”, meaning are you going to pass me on the right or left so I can get out of the way of the splash. I tried to answer her but when I spoke I started puking and said “I don’t know”. It sucked. Then I just pressed on and finished and never apologized to her. But I’m pretty sure I didn’t get any on her.

Then we went to the next major exchange and I got about 20 more min’s of sleep, and tried to settle my stomach before my last leg. I was hungry but didn’t dare eat anything until the relay was over.

3rd leg # 28, 24:42, 6:04 min mile pace. This leg was virtually all up a really nasty hill. When I took off I thought I’d like to run it at least under 6 min mile pace. But the lack of food, rest, a head wind and the hill it’s self just killed me.  I tried to gut it out and pushed about as hard as my tired legs would go and in the end was actually pretty amazed I had ran it that fast. I still had some side ache pains hanging over from the 2nd leg nightmare so my breath was a little short. But overall I was happy with the performance of this leg. I also saw a coyote staring at me but then he ran off. Must not have wanted to get any puke on his pretty fur coat. The best part of this leg was that I passed a runner and when I did it put us out in front of the rest of the 190 teams. Now there was no one left to pass and we could just finish strong as a team and win.

This was a great trip. We had a blast during the race and even more fun hanging out the rest of the trip. When the race was over all 12 of us and our drivers (James & Steve) went to James and Lybi’s house for a great pasta dinner. It was fun to hang with the other guys and hear their stories.
Then our travel van decided to drive back home. We had planned on staying down there but all wanted to get home to our cute little wives. So we bravely left and about 50 miles up the freeway we all hit rock bottom. We had pretty much been up for 36 hours and together ran 190 miles. We ended up pushing on to Flagstaff and getting a room for the 7 of us and enjoying one of the best Ihop meals you could ever dream about. The guys got a little out of hand there and I had to be the adult and settle everyone down before we got into trouble. Then we talked about the influences of soccer on our American society.

ZZ Top
Baseball
Elmers Glu
Vicks

You know what I’m talking about. Just makin’ memories baby.

12.3 mile run this morning up to new overpass and down around GS. I felt pretty good this morning after the long weekend of racing there was a little left over soreness when I went uphill  today but nothing too bad. 

(White Cumulus 111.8)

8.2 mile run this afternoon. Up the trail to the powerline, over to water tank and down around the industrial park. As far as running goes I felt pretty good this afternoon. I was just trashed from a long day at work.

12.3 mile run this morning. Same run as yesterday morning. Nothing too flashy going on. I kept the pace right around 7:15 min mile and just tried to relax and run. Long day planned at work.

(Stratus Red 124.1)

7.8 mile run this afternoon. Good ol' Powerline/GS loop. You can tell spring is in the air with the warmer weather... however it also brings wind and I hate wind.  Had a non-typical day at work. We ended up doing a bid for a putting green is someones back yard (typical) but they also wanted a cement pad placed right next to it. So I spent most of the day wheelbarrowing cement into a backyard and then finishing it. It sucked and now I'm officially drained. The good news is we've only did that twice in about a year and a half.

 (Blue Stratus 192.25)
 

12.3 mile run this morning. Same as the prior two mornings. Not a bad run. It was a little cooler out this morning, once I got to the golf course there was ice forming on the sprinklers. I'll be working down in Mesquite today so I'm going to try and run in off Utah hill this afternoon/ evening on the way home.

(Blue Cumulus 194.2 )

8.2 mile run this evening. Well it was a long day down in Mesquite and I was planning on running 10 or so miles back into Ivans on the way home... however we ate at a casino buffet before leaving town and one thing I really struggle with is saying no to free food in mass quantities. So I did partake and then had to wait a few hours to run. Once home I decided to run from my house down past Costco and onto the river trail down to the other trail that drops under St. James place and then back up to my in-laws house. It looked like it should be a pretty good run... Well, well, well Clyde pays the price again. The buffet hadn't even began to digest especially the pork tamales. Again I dry heaved and felt the pain in my stomach. I used Jedi mind tricks to try and keep it down and not spew all over the bike path. At one point I just had to stop and take deep breaths and wait a few before I could go on. Then when I got to River Road up at the end of St. James Place the Jedi stuff wasn't working any more and I had to stop running and just walk it out for about .2 miles. Finished up and just laid on the floor at my in-laws for about an hour trying to decide why I just don't say no to drugs ( drugs being the buffet).

Anyways another lesson learned at least until next time.

(Red Stratus 132.3)

12.3 mile run. Regular morning run. Pretty chilly out this morning. I felt much better this morning that I did last night on the run. So far this week I've been able to feel pretty good even though I've been working everyday and keeping the mileage up. Hopefully I can fight off the mid to end week "Wall".

(White Cumulus 124.1)

Met up with the club for a 10 mile run this evening. We hit the trail loop up above Red Hills golf course and then dropped down into town. There we were running down in the direction of the temple and Steve said we should do a fartlek down to the temple. So I took off for about a half mile and was pushing about as hard as I could. I never looked at the garmin to see how fast we were going but when I go home I looked and it said that at one point I was going 3:56 pace. No wonder it felt hard. I'm guessing that we held that pace for around 700m or so. Then the rest of the run was just at easy pace.



(Blue Stratus 202.25)

12.3 mile run this morning. I've been running this run over 1:30 something all week and today despite being drained at the end of a week I ran it in 1:28:54. Not anything amazing but I wasn't trying to push the pace so it's nice to see that I'm really not as sluggish as I feel. Now I've got a big day of house chores and getting the dogs groomed... But I love my life as a stay at home dad.

(Blue Cumulus 206.5)

5.7 mile run this afternoon. I had a long day of laundry, dishes, shopping, and getting the doggies groomed.  

20.4 mile run this morning with the club. They all were actually doing 15 miles so they took me up an extra 5 up past Veyo. This run was scary similar to a run I did on Aug 4, 2007. It was within seconds on both parts of the run. I had originally planned (today) to try and do the second ten miles at around 5:20 pace... this to try and equal a workout that I had done on September 8, 2007... pretty aggressive considering that was one of my top 5 best running performances ever!

Today it just wasn't happening. I had to work a little too hard on the first half to hit the 6:38 pace I ended up with- then on the second half there wasn't a lot of kick. Plus there was a mild headwind that cost me about 10 seconds a mile, and I'm at the end of a really high mileage week (for me). To top all of that off I'm trying to teach my legs how to run fast again. I have to remind myself that it is only March 8 and we are very early in the year to have much speed at all.

Goal for the spring/summer is to run that second 10 miles at 5:10 pace or faster!

Total- 2:03:54 for 20 miles.

PART 1: 6:38 min mile pace for the first 10 miles. 1:06:44

PART 2: 5:42 min mile pace for the last 10 miles. 57:10

Here are the splits for the last 10 miles although they really aren't that impressive:

1. 5:58- taking a GU and running with a drink

2. 5:25- Nice relaxed mile

3. 5:36- Met the headwind for the first time and battle it on in!

4. 5:47- Wind

5. 5:56- This is a pathetic mile it should have been 20 seconds faster on that grade... Bad wind though.

6. 6:00- Battling up the hill by Winchester and the wind

7. 5:38- Really try to get some turnover and save the workout!

8. 5:27- A little better but still should have been faster.

9. 5:38- Blah!

10. 5:40- Should be close to a 5 min mile on this section. I do have to stop completely at the light and stop the watch (sucks because now I'm not really going to get going again).

So the good news of the workout is that I didn't bail off and pull out of tempo gear. Although it was very tempting at some points. I'm happy that inside of a 120+ mile week I could hit the same caliber of workout that I was hitting last year in August.

Around .4 miles of cool down. It should have been more but I was trying to get home to go the the track meet with my wife.

(Red Stratus 152.7)

12.3 mile morning run. The new standard loop. The legs felt pretty sore from Saturdays workout... very sore actually. That's a good sign- it means I got a good workout on the club run on Saturday. So I just went out this morning and tried to focus on good form, breathing, and stride turnover. Amazingly I finished in 1:28:24. That's faster than any of my times last week when I had fresh legs. So I hope the good luck trend continues and I can shake out these sore legs and get ready to have a good race for the Spectrum 10k.

(White Cumulus 136.4)

7.8 mile run this evening. The legs a little more heavy and stiff than they did this morning (not good news).  I pushed myself out the door and drug it along up into GS and onto the Powerline trail. The good news is the weather was just priceless today. What a nice afternoon/ evening clear and calm and right around 70 degrees.  

12.3 mile morning run. I ran my loop backwards today. So up into GS first then up the dirt trail down into Washington around and over to the new overpass and back home. The Garmin measured it right on with the other way. I'm still feeling pretty trashed but somehow ran a PR on this course with a 1:27:06 @ 7:04 min mile pace. I'm guessing that this direction is a little faster that the other way. I got a text from my quads that said: "Hey we are ok with running 20 miles a day. We are even ok with some 6:30's and a few 6's. But we are not ok with anything fast on hard downhill."

How do I respond to that? Especially with the Spectrum 10K coming up on Saturday. Last years first mile for me was a 4:4x on a mean downhill through Snow Canyon park.... I'm doomed.

(Red Stratus 165)

9.2 mile run this afternoon/evening. The time thing has just got my mind going crazy. It totally doesn't feel like it's 6 p.m. and the weather is making it feel like the end of April so I'm all jacked up. Anyways the run was ok. Just up to the powerline and down through GS- then back home long  through Middleton. My legs are starting to feel a little better and losing the soreness of Saturdays workout. I think on the grand scale of things I'm more sore than if I'd had raced a good half marathon. Hopefully along with getting faster over the spring I can also build a better resistance to soreness. At least I did last year... because I wasn't sore after the same type of workouts.  

Oh one more day until I can taper a little!

(Blue Cumulus 215.7) 

12.3 mile morning run. I didn't wear a watch this morning so there wasn't a temptation to PR a third day in a row on this course. Throwing PR in to a sentence makes thing sound fast... not really. I'm absolutely trashed. I just can't recover from Saturday. But not having a watch today just let me relax and not try to keep any type of pace. I'll do that again tonight and then taper off hard on Thursday, and Friday... then hopefully go to the race on Saturday and not get too embarrassed by the likes of Nick, Dave, and possibly a couple high schoolers.

(Blue Stratus 214.55)

3 mile run this evening. Well after my morning run and the soreness in the legs was still about a 8 out of 10 I decided I needed a message. So I went to Message Enve and used the free gift my sister-in-law gave me for Christmas. I know it's about time. I just struggle with them. This is only the second message I've had since October of 2006. But the girl did a pretty good job today and worked my legs out- mostly the quads. After the totally relaxing trip there I really didn't want to ruin the feeling with going out and doing a second run. I kind of wanted the message to sink in and last... But after a few hours of pacing around the house I finally caved in to a slow, easy run to try out some new shoes. I guess we will just call it an early taper.

(Landreth 3)
 

7.3 mile morning run. Ran down to PVHS and talked with my wife and then went around the dog pound and up through Washington to the fire house and on home. The soreness wasn't really and issue this morning but there is no flow right now- normal for a race week. I aways feel pretty crappy until the day of the race and then about 80% of the time I end up feeling good.

(White Cumulus 143.7)

8.6 mile run this afternoon with the running club. We went up to the start of the 10k course and ran it back down into Ivins to see all the changes they have made since last year. Then we made our way back over to Mike's house. I got caught along the way needing a porta potty and had to leave the guys. Then I found Kendra and jumped in the van to go back to the store. Anyways pretty good run and the legs are feeling much better today than earlier this week.

(Landreth 11.6)
 

8.1 mile run this morning. Up to Poweline and down through GS back home via Middleton. Legs felt pretty good this morning. Plan on doing a few more this afternoon and then the race tomorrow morning.

(Red Stratus 173.1)

5.1 mile run this afternoon. Felt antsy and nervous all day so I just went out and tried to shake it out. I through a few three surges in at around 5:40 pace for like 600m just to try and prime the pump. Anyways I'd feel a lot better about this race tomorrow if it was a half or something a little longer. 10k's are so hard and fast!

1 mile at the house at around 6:50 a.m to help the tummy get going if you know what I mean.

2.6 mile warm up at the start. This could have been a bad choice. I ran up the hill after the bus dropped up of for a little over a mile. I needed a good warm-up but not a steep uphill.

At the start I could see fast people everywhere and decided that Dave and I had our work cut out for the race. We jumped on with Nick M, and a UVSC runner (last name Moody). Here's how the race boiled down:

1. 4:40- A fast first mile but I knew it would be on that steep downhill sections. All 4 of us are together and Hip Hip Jose is out in the lead pulling his usual stunt.

2. 5:10- The course rolls through some washes and stuff so it's up and down through here. Moody and Nick are up on Dave and I but we're not too far back.

3. 5:01- I try and really work on this mile. Nick drops the Moody guy and it looks as if I can go get him... so I surge hard in a few places. 3 miles in 14:51!

4. 5:23- I wanted this mile to be better but as we turned uphill into the houses I started to drift and really struggled to get to the top where it turns and heads back down to the main road. Dave is close as we are going up, but on the downhill back out I try to put a few seconds on.

5. 5:35- I'm still back in no mans land and totally up for grabs if Dave wants to take me out. One this mile Nick and Moody miss a turn and head straight in to the finish. At the point that I turned I'd say I was 1 min back from Nick and around 25 seconds back from Moody. So Dave and I turn back uphill and weave our way through the desert.

6. 5:36- I'm still just hanging around. Now my mind is racing thinking about how those guys missed the turn and what would become of it all. I decide to give it just a little more to lose Dave for good and I think he is gone... Well as I turn the corner at the round-a-bout out of the corner of my eye I see him ROLLING like 3 seconds away. So I quickly shift gears.

.2 miles in 56 seconds- I surge hard for about 400 m to discourage Dave from coming up. Then once I realized he was o.k with it I was o.k with it and I just coasted on in.

2.5 Ran back to find Mik'L and she was doing great and most likely could have done better without me giving her the splits and stuff. She did a good job smashing the hour mark with a 56:30 I think.

The race was pretty good. I didn't care about what the time was because I didn't know what to expect from this course. All I wanted was to go run to my potential considering the training and such... and for the most part I think I did. The steep warm-up mile might have slowed me down just a little through the 4th or 5th mile. But when it was over I was happy with a 5:14 min mile avg on that course. It is still hard to judge where Dave and I are right now (we're both so close in our shape). The only thing I keep telling myself is that we should be good with the 5 or 6 weeks straight at 100 miles or more. I know this is kind of uncharted territory for us but should yield some great results later this spring and summer.

5 mile run this afternoon. After the race I spent the rest of the day here in front of the computer and on the couch watching some college hoops with some naps. When I finally started to move around I was starting to get tight. So I decided to do a little shake out and loosen up while pushing the week over 100- I was at 98- just to close to just leave it. I have OCD!

(Landreth 16.6)

So I'm a little tight this morning after the race yesterday. Not like "I need a message" sore but sore like "I need to relax". My mind is racing about where I need to take my training. I've got two good weeks of hard training before the week of the Striders Half and I've got a lot to do before then. I'd like to keep the miles up over 100 but also really try to hammer some tempo runs and work on that threshold speed.

My last 6 weeks of training I've avg 110 miles a week and I feel that I've got a good solid base. Now instead of trying to just pile on the miles I'll do two or three speed workouts each week. So like I said I still want to be at 100 mpw or just over but I won't be aiming for 120's or something.

My lack of threshold work has in a sense crippled me at both Del Sol and yesterday at the Spectrum. I hate the feeling of not being able to push any harder. On races where I have really felt good about my performance I've always just ran smooth and never tried to force things. But the last two races I've been forcing the turnover and in a way felt "flappy" or sloppy so to speak.

Anyways I'm just venting about what needs to happen. It's just hard for me to push out those harder tempo workouts. But the time has come.

12.3 mile morning loop. Man the legs were heavy and slow this morning. I can't get over how sore my hind end is. I'm not sure it's ever been sore after a race...Today with both runs I'll just be kind of do easy recovery runs and hope to prepare for some tempo stuff tomorrow morning.

(Landreth 28.9)

7.8 mile run this evening. Over into GS and then up the sand trail to the Powerline and back down into Middleton. Not as smooth feeling as I'd have liked it to be, but I can see some improvement from this morning.

(White Cumulus 151.5) 

12 mile morning run. Kind of a mini tempo on very tiered legs. I ran from the house over to the industrial park and up the hill past the water tank to where the pavement ends. This put me out 5.1 miles. For the last mile and a half of that I tried to run a harder than easy but not full blown tempo. Then a bathroom break and back down to begin the all out temop.
4.1 miles at tempo pace avg 5:20 for that phase. The only reason I was able to hit these times was that it's downhill... but at this point leg turnover is leg turnover. Then I finished up running back down to the gas station and back home for the cool down.

(Red Stratus 185.1) 

Over all not a bad workout. Kind of a cheap way to get some fast miles but it's close to the house and I'm pretty sore still from last week. Plus running up there to start with is a good workout in it's self. Hey it's a good way to start, now I just need one more tempo this week. Most likely I'll just try to finish my long run on Saturday at race pace or maybe Thursday night- we'll have to see.

5.2 mile run this afternoon. Up to the powerline and back on the trail. Just an easy (get it done) type of run. The weather is perfect right now int the afternoon.

(Blue Cumulus 220.9)

16.6 mile morning run. The same start of my normal Washington overpass loop but when I got back to GS I took the sandy trail up to the powerline and then up to the water tank and back around through the industrial park. Nothing really to write home about other than it's in the books. I guess I negative split this run today even with all the big hill climbs on the second half.

(Blue Stratus 231.15)

4.2 mile run this evening. Mik'L and I went on a little drive "just to look" at the houses in GS. We love that area ALOT but everything was either not what we were looking for or WAY too much $$$. Like I said we were just looking. We are toying with the idea of buying a bigger home but it's not like it will happen right now. I'm sad though because even if we were... we sure aren't going to be doing it up there. So after we were done I had her drop me off at the head of the sand trail and I ran it up to the powerline and back home.  

10.1 mile run this morning. Same loop as usual but I didn't go up into GS. Busy day ahead, plus I have the club run tonight.

(Landreth 39)

10.1 mile run with the club. Very hard run for me this afternoon. We were only doing around 7 min pace on the first 4.5 or so and it was very difficult for me to keep the pace. The legs felt way tired, and heavy. I should have just stopped and hitch hiked back to the store but when the guys split and went back I just ran a lone and slowed down to around 7:15-20 pace and things felt a lot better. I'm not sure what my deal was but is sucked.

(Red Stratus 195.2) 

Allergies, and being totally wiped out kept me home this morning. I actually got up at 6 and got dressed to run but just felt horrible so I got back in bed. Hopefully after what is set up to be a long day at work I'll be able to get a few miles in tonight.

13.1 mile run this afternoon. We worked until around 1:30 then I did a loop out in Ivins and Santa Clara. It felt hard to push out 7:20 pace for the first like 8 miles and I was getting really upset that maybe something was generally wrong. Then after my garmin beeped at 8 I started to hit 6:30 pace and it felt easy.... I don't know what's going on. Don't tell me I now need a 8 mile warm-up to get going.

(Red Stratus 208.3)

22.8 mile run this morning. Met up with the club down at the Dixie Center and started out to try an idea I had about a tempo loop. So we ran the loop once as a warm-up and it turned out to be 5.7 miles. A lot of it is on the Painters course and the some up on the other trail.

After the warm-up lap that was at 7:14 pace we started the marathon paced tempo. Some of the trail is under construction so we only did 5.4 miles at temp pace so we didn't get hurt trying to run fast through the construction mess.

The 5.4 mile tempo was at 5:31avg pace. Pretty good considering I only wanted to hit 5:40 pace. Hayden stuck it in high gear and I just tried to hang on to him. He ended up pulling away from me at the end and was running very strong.

Then another lap (5.7 miles) with the guys to cool down at around 7 min pace. Then the guys were done and I added one more lap at 6:40 pace to finish up the week.

Had a good time this morning. It's just amazing spring weather and the mornings are the best. I liked the little tempo loop and think I'll keep it as a standard the rest of the summer. Like every two weeks or something.

(Blue Stratus 253.95)

12.3 mile run this morning up around the new overpass. I felt totally rested and fresh this morning. Over the weekend I took 800m or IB on two different times to try and get the soreness out of the system. I guess it pretty much worked.

(Landreth 51.3)

9 mile run this afternoon. Around GS and up over Powerline, then a long finish up the Middleton hill and back. I felt really good and really enjoyed the run. I never pushed the pace at all- kind of focused on form and breathing.

12.3 mile run this morning up around overpass. I had music this morning and the legs felt strong, and swift. It seems I had a lot more output than any run in the last 2-3 months. Maybe I'm finally turning the corner and getting out of that winter slump... Ended up doing the entire run at 6:40 pace without ever throwing it into tempo pace or effort.

(Blue Cumulus 233.2 )

7.7 mile run this afternoon/ evening. The paved GS loop with 1.1 miles barefoot on the golf course and then a short extended version around Casidas Del Sol.

The run was an avg of 6:53 pace. I really enjoyed the barefoot on the grass. It felt good and I could instantly feel some changes in my form. It's been a long time (pre STGM) since I hit the barefoot.

(White Cumulus 159.2 )

Check out Pandora.com for you own custom made radio station.

12.3 mile run this morning. Overpass loop- but I mixed it up with the directions. I kind of criss x-rossed all over the place. I didn't feel as fresh today as I have the last two...but you can't win them all.

(Red Stratus 220.6 )

9.10 mile run this afternoon. Basically the same tempo workout as last Tuesday. Today I took the dirt trail up above the water tank for a 4.1 mile warm-up. Then hit 4 miles down at tempo pace and a 1 mile cool down because I was just about late to take my wife to the temple.

Last week the tempo miles were at an avg of 5:20 pace (but on semi trashed legs). Today the temop miles were at an avg of 5:14 pace with a decent head wind and it was 83 degrees when I left the house. It felt pretty hot for this time of year... at the end of the run I was soaked.

Pretty good effort today. Mile times went like this 5:17 gradual down w/ one small climb, 5:16, gradual down or flat, 4:53 steep and fast downhill although the wind is bad here, 5:31 about half gradual down then a short flat section and just under half uphill.

(Blue Stratus 263)

10.1 mile morning run up and around the overpass. The legs were not tight at all from last nights speed. Ran smooth and easy and just slipped in front of the 7 min guy to end the run at an avg of 6:59 pace.

(Landreth 61.4)

10 mile run with the club tonight. For the most part I just felt blah. But then around mile 8 I realized I could still beat the 7 min guy if I worked for it. So started inching up the pace and passed him. Ended up finishing at 6:58 pace.

(Blue Cumulus 243.2)

11 mile morning run. I had to get a new windshield put in my car so while it was being worked on I ran. I left the auto glass shop and ran down River Road all the way out and around by the new high school then down by the freeway to the trail and took it back to River Road and then back up to the shop.

The run pretty much sucked. I'm feeling kind of trashy. I've got a bad tooth ache and it's starting to have side effects on the rest of my body. I went to the dentist yesterday and he said I need a root canal and a crown! Talk about making me puke! So now we have to figure out what to do with our new dental insurance that will only give us discounted rates... Puke again.

(White Cumulus 170.2)

I didn't go back out tonight. We had Olive Garden for lunch and it was sitting pretty heavy- plus I went to the track meet to see how Mik'L was doing and stayed for a while and just kind of forgot about running this evening. Not to worry really... I only wanted to be around 110 miles this week anyways.

17.2 mile run this morning with the club. We left the store and ran over to Snow Canyon and up through it to the top. Then down the marathon course back to the store. It is 9.4 miles up to the top and some of it is very, very steep. On the way down I didn't really want to push it so I just ran at whatever felt good pace (wfgp) which ended up being around 6:10 pace for the 7.8 miles down or whatever it was.

Over all a pretty laid back run. I almost feel like I didn't get a workout in today, but with the race next week it will be good to be a little more fresh.

(Red Stratus 237.8)

Now to finish my entry for the day and week. For some reason during the run a McDonald's breakfast sounded so good. So when we finished we went there and partook of the goods... now my stomach isn't too impressed but it tasted good at the time and I don't have to run until Monday so it should pass through by then.

My last 8 weeks I have hit an avg of 111 miles per week. This is by far the most intense training phase of my running life so far. I know there are some bloggers that do this in their sleep but for me it's been a good challenge. Do I feel a lot faster? Not really. To be honest I may feel just a little slower and run down. But on the grand scale of things this mileage should "pay the bills" so to speak later on this summer. I hope to go up to Ogden this week and regardless of time- I'd like to just run what feels to be a good race. But it seems like I always struggle with half marathons. That is something I'd like to work on (this week!) as well. So my real test will come on May 17th where I'll push to run a PR and really get my 2008 racing season off to a good start....

12 mile morning run. It rained yesterday, and last night so I had to avoid any dirt areas. So today I just ran up into GS and did two loops there and back around Middleton the long way to hit 12 miles.

What an amazing morning. The desert smells so good after a rain. Today there was a thick fog up around the golf course area. It looked awesome and reminded me of doing runs in northern England.

The run felt pretty good for a Monday. I'm going to tapper off pretty good the last part of the week and with the race only be around 70-80 miles for the week.

(White Cumulus 182.2)

8 mile run tonight. Up to the water tank and around industrial. Pretty windy on the run- I hate wind! Once I started down off the ridge and had the wind at my back for a while I just tried to relax and run. Also worked on a few breathing exercises to help open up the lungs. My allergies have been horrible the last couple weeks. Everything here has been growing and in bloom. From what I remember it usually goes away sometime in May.

(Landreth 69.4)

9.2 mile run this morning. Over to GS the long way and up over the hill back home around Middleton. Kind of a new version of an old loop. A lot going of for me this week so some tapered mileage will feel very good.

(Red Stratus 247 )

7.3 mile run this afternoon. GS loop backwards and the short version. Worked my butt off today and about 4 miles into this run I was getting dizzy and light headed (kind of in this trance). So I decided to kind of push the pace to wake up a little. I ran hard all the way up the sand trail to the powerline. I'm not sure on pace but it was tempo effort uphill in sand. Then once on top I relaxed for about a mile and picked it up again on the trail down into Middleton. Got done and went to watch the Dixie High Baseball team play Snow Canyon in a close region game. Dixie 3, Snow Canyon 1- it was a good game.

(Blue Cumulus 270.3 )

9.2 mile morning run. Same loop as yesterday morning. Really didn't want to go today but pushed myself out the door. The two ball park franks that I ate at the baseball game last night gave me some problems along the way.

Would you classify a hot dog as "processed food"?

(Blue cumulus 252.4)

5 mile run this afternoon. Just the GS loop. I was only going to do 4 miles but the 4 miler and 5 mile loop are right by each other and the 5 mile loop is basically just as easy as the 4... my wife knows what I'm talking about.

7.5 mile run this morning. I felt really good today after using the sick last night. It really helps work some of the kinks out. I did the GS loop and finished long around Middleton park. Another busy day ahead. We will be driving up to Orem this afternoon to start our little mini vacation up north. We will be staying in Orem tonigh, the Red Moose Lodge on Friday night, and the Little America hotel in SLC on Saturday night before going to GC on Sunday morning at the new convention center.

(White Cumulus 189.7)

5 mile run this morning in Orem. It was chilly but not as bad as I thought it would be. We are going to drive up to the lodge now and check in and try to relax the rest of the day. I'll try to do a couple more when we get up there.

3 mile run this afternoon here in Eden. We drove up to the lodge and checked in- then spent the rest of the day relaxing in the room. I finally got up and did and out-and-back 1.5 miler to take my mind off the race... yeah right. When I finished I was met by Brent and Sylvia, and Kim and Tom who were talking in the lobby. We all later went to dinner together at Eden Eats.

I finally get to blog my race! To start off I just have to say my official time was 1:14:17 but it should have been something like 1:13:55 or something. I'll explain why below.

1 mile early at the lodge before going to the bus. 2 mile warm-up at the start with the blogging gang.

The weather turned out to be better up at the start then we had thought the day before. As the race started my goal was to be semi conservative at first and then work into the race. Here's the play-by-play.

1. 5:23- just working into the race. After the dust settles I'm sitting in 6th place as the guys ahead of me take off a little faster than I'd planned on going out.

2. 5:26- 6th place and just moving down the canyon

3. 5:26- Same position all the way to 7 miles. The downhill here really isn't that fast.

4. 5:30- Feeling good but not as smooth as I should be. So I start trying to relax and breath deeper.

5. 5:30- Same

6. 5:29- Getting close to the turn and running down the same road as my 1st leg of Wasatch Back!

7. 5:42- We make the turn here and start fighting the WIND and the rollie pollies...

8. 5:40- I pass the guy in front of me as he looks to be pretty much done.

9. 5:50- At mile marker 9 I look at my watch and still feel like I can finish pretty strong. So I want to make it to mile 10 around 55 min's or so... but this is the start of the horrible miles and the wind starts to beat me down to the earth.

10. 5:49- Just hating it and working for every step.

11. 6:06- A long uphill along with hard wind in the face. This sucked because my goal is to have all race miles under 6 min's this year and well... that didn't happen.

12. 5:57- Along here in some spot Steve A. took a (wrong) left hand turn and at that point I'm about 45 seconds-1 min behind him. As I come through the intersection I see him going the wrong way and I keep going the right way... but I start to second guess myself and so I turn around and run back through the intersection to where I can see the sign that was pointing out the right way to go. I was in fact going the right way to begin with and ended up costing myself 20 seconds+ and a 1:13 something. Anyways that was the part I was to explain from the top.

13. 5:55- Really trying to finish hard now after the screw up but I'm not going very fast.

.1 32 seconds or 5:10 pace for the last tenth.

So overall not too bad. I really wish I woudn't have turned around so there was no question about my time. The conditions were bad I guess. I mean the first 6.6 was fine... a little cold for me at around 35 degrees. Then from the turn in the wind just sucked the life out of all of us. The best part about it was that I got to see the Ogden course and prepare my mind for that race. Also today was a good workout to prepare for upcoming races.

Good job to all the other bloggers!

(Speedstars 80.3) 

12.3 mile run this morning. Regular old overpass loop. I woke up drained with a belly full of junk food from the weekend of traveling. However I pushed myself out the door and once the run was under way I felt pretty good. Not really any soreness from the race on Saturday. Glad to get the week going and I'll try to hang on for some good mileage this week. 7:15 min mile avg.

(Landreth 81.7 )

8 mile run this evening. Worked  hard all day out in the dusty, blowing dirt. I came home pretty drained and just about packed it in for the day. But I managed out the door and just told myself to keep it very easy and just get it done. About a half mile into the run I started to feel great, almost too good. I didn't have any kind of watch or gps on so I'm not sure what was going on... but I made my way up to the watertank and then down around the industrial loop. I felt amazing and kept trying to hold myself back, but just felt like I was floating. My form was the best it's been all year and everything else was clicking like a clock. I ended up racing a guy on a bike the last 1.3 and it was basically a photo finish.

So most likely I'll pay the price the rest of the week for running a mini tempo type run on Monday afternoon but for today it felt good.

(Blue Cumulus 260.4) 

12.3 miles this morning on the standard loop. Not as glamorous as last night but not too bad either. The pizza, chip, salsa, and guacamole that I ate last night watching the NCAA championship game didn't sit as good as I though it would. Oh well you win some you lose some.

(White Cumulus 202)

8 miles this evening. I tried some different legs of the GS loop but it still ended up being 8 miles. In fact from my driveway back to my driveway it was 8.0- I was thinking it would have been a little longer. Only 3 miles of it was on paved roads the rest was out on the sandy trails.

(Red Stratus 255) 

17 mile run this morning. I ran the same loop up around Coral Canyon that I did with Dave and Logan a couple months ago plus I added a little around Middleton at the end. I did the 17 miles at an avg of 6:52 min/mile pace. Which is pretty good on that course. There are some really steep uphill parts and the downhill isn't fast enough to make up for it. I felt like I ran very well this morning and was starting to feel the "flow".

(Landreth 98.7)

4 miles this afternoon. Just something easy to go to bed on. Legs felt kind of tired and sore this afternoon.

Here are a few pictures from the race last Saturday.

10.1 mile run this morning with Steven. We met up at his house early and ran down to the Dixie Center and back. It was a little chilly but still a very nice morning. After the run I had to look at his sprinkler system that has been leaking all winter. What a muddy mess! Anyways it shouldn't be too hard of a fix and I'm glad about that. Club run this evening if your in town stop on by at 6 p.m. at the store.

(Blue Stratus 280.4)

10.3 mile run this evening with the club. We started out with Bill, Dave F. and his brother. Then Bill and I pressed ahead and Bill turned at the seven mile turn. I went down past SC high to the park where I usually have to go potty... and had to again so I'll now call it "potty park" and then I just turned around and ran back to the store that same way.  Finished at an avg of 6:56 pace for the run after going nice and easy for the first few. Really starting to feel the "MOJO" coming back from last fall. The last 3 miles or so today was below 6:30 pace and it felt effortless. I've had some really good runs this week and am feeling stronger than ever. Hope to continue to make some good progress without any setbacks.

(White Cumulus 212.3)

12.6 miles this morning. Over into GS the long way then up the sand trail to the powerline. Then to the water tank and down around industrial to home the longer way. Nothing too fancy this morning. More or less kind of just blah. Now I've got to get some things done for the family and get ready to watch the Masters this afternoon while I take a good nap or as they call it in England a little "kip".

(Landreth 111.3)

5.7 mile run this evening. Not a lot of motivation this afternoon. Just the bear necessities tonight.

(Blue Cumulus 266.1)

Well the last time I ran this race I ran a 37:50 back in 2006. So this morning my main goal was to hit a PR even doing it as a tempo training run. We met up early at the start (Bill, Dave, Steve and I) to run the course as a warm-up. We ended up doing just a little more and barley having enough time to get to the starting line... but no worries. I'll be the first to say that this is a tough course, but we had an amazing morning so the conditions were as good as they could be.

1. 5:16- Up around the school and houses. It actually didn't feel like we went out this fast.

2. 5:07- Still circling the streets and then dropping off down to the main road. I must have been in the zone because I had no intentions of running any miles this fast.

3. 5:30- Ah that's more like it on some rolling hills. At this point Dave is about 1 min back and everyone else is off the radar.

4. 5:45- We round the corner on this mile and start the long climb. I also start having some mild dry heaving action... but I fight it off like a champ today as to not have a "puking" story to tell.

5. 6:14- This looks slow but up that hill it really wasn't too bad. I'm just running easy now trying not to push too hard. But even if I'd wanted to run this at all out race mode today this mile wouldn't have been much faster.

6. 5:49- Still climbing on this mile but we do reach the top. Once there I relax a little and try to enjoy this section of flat with a short little downhill at the end of the race.

.2 44 seconds- The 5k was finishing at the same time so I dodge my way through mom's and kids finishing up with that.

Overall a great morning to be out running. After the race we ran the course for a third time to cool-down and Dave and I extended a little more to get to 20 miles for the day. My goal going into the workout today was to hit the tempo paced miles at 5:40 pace... I avg 5:36 so not too bad for that course. This was a great overall workout to have in the bank and finishes off whats been a really good week of training. I feel I'm heading in the right direction.

(Speedstars 86.5)

(White Cumulus 226.1)

9.5 miles this morning. Up to the overpass, but then back down the dirt road up into GS and back home around Middleton. I'm trying something different this week...but I can't say what until after the fact.

(Blue Stratus 289.9)

8.1 mile run this evening. I got hot fast and hard today. It was 90+ degrees today here in the STG and that's just a little too warm, too fast. I got fried on my neck and arms out working today and then came home and zapped all the rest of the energy out of my soul on a run. I can take the heat I just have to work into it.

(Blue Cumulus 274.2) 

9.5 mile morning run. Same as yesterday. I've been troubled the last two day with shin splints...... I guess thats what it is. I've never had them before, ever. Why would I suddenly get them in my right shin? I'm hoping they leave just as fast as they showed up. 

I'm still gearing up for my big new "thing" tomorrow. That is if I'm healthy without too much stress from the shins.

(Red Stratus 264.5)
 

Happy 29th Birthday to me. I decided to give myself the gift of running a mile for every year so far... that will be 29 today. Not all at once however.

My gift to you is this great song and video. Take the time to watch it. You wont be disappointed.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=mTzEp4CeWT8

13.7 mile run this morning. Shin was a little sore but nothing sharp like yesterday I'll just have to monitor it.

(Landreth 125 )

15.5 miles this afternoon in the wind. I had it all planned out on the distance so I'd be right on but I didn't plan for the short detor to a port-o-potty. So that put me over 29 on the day, not by much though. Nothing too glamorous to report. I didn't even hit the "Wall" at 27.

(White Cumulus 241.6)

7.8 mile run up through GS and over the hill on the powerline trail. Not sore at all from the extra miles yesterday, but I am a little wore out. However it's been a busy week with everything else too. Almost no pain at all in the shin.

(Blue Cumulus 282)

10.3 mile run this evening with the club. We left the store and Bill pushed the pace as he is really running well now and looking strong as he prepares for the World Sr. Games. Steve hung back with the other guys and Hayden and I just clipped along down past the the light by the high school and over to the potty park. Then we turned around and started to push the pace a little back to the store. We ended up hitting 6:49 min/mile pace for the run. It was a good little push on the last 4 miles or so. I'm not sore from yesterday but I'm tight- if that makes any sense.

9.5 mile morning loop. Same run as Tuesday morning. It's the end of the week and I can feel it. I'm just trashed and ready to be done for the week. With everything not just running. Looking forward to all the bloggers who are running SLC. Good Luck guys!

(Landreth 134.5)

Group run down at the Dixie Center. We did the first 12 miles at like 7:40 pace. Just really relaxed and chatty. Then we started to move the pace down progressively and I finished with the last 3 miles being at 6 min pace. Ok run for whats just been an o.k. week. It feels like I've been kind of flaky in my training this week. But I've been really busy with work and it just drained me. Plus I had the shin thing early in the week and some really sore hammy's the last part of the week. Oh well!

(Red Stratus 284.5)

12.3 mile morning run. Regular overpass loop. Really slow and Mondayish this morning. Had to take a pit stop at the Washington park. I kind of wish I was in Boston this morning- The last two years we've been out there and it's a lot of fun. Good luck today Walter and all the rest of the bloggers.

(Landreth 146.7)

7.8 mile run this afternoon. Got out about 4:30 p.m and did the standard GS/ Powerline loop. Had some major stomach issues from lunch and had to make a trail side visit. I'm not going to do any kind of big workouts this week- no speed or anything. Just try to keep the weekly total over 100. I'm going to be busy with a lot of work and play.

12.2 mile morning run. Mostly the standard overpass loop just a short diversion. Up at 4 a.m today and out the door. I had to get it in early so I could join one of my buddies for a morning of fishing at Sand Hollow. I guess this might end up as a fishing week.

(Blue Stratus 302.1 )

8.1 mile loop up to water tank and around industrial. Overall I'm just not in the zone like I was a couple weeks ago. I have to talk myself into every workout and then when I get out stuff hurts and there is no rhythm at all. I'm pretty sure it's time for a good message.

On a good note we went fishing this morning and for the first hour and a half it was dead then for the next couple it was "hot". I pulled in a few and the climax was that I hooked a really big large mouth bass it fought like a warrior and snapped my line when I got it to the surface. Most likely it was the biggest black bass I've ever had on. Fun, but a bummer it got off. It was fun hanging with Rocky and Craig this morning.

(Blue Cumulus 291.1)

14.3 mile morning run. Overpass loop with extension up sand hill to powerline and around the top of Middleton. 7:11 avg pace this morning. Which equals to a pretty good effort on that course. I felt a little more engaged and in control of the flow today- which is a good thing because I'm not sure how many more crappy runs I could stand.

(White Cumulus 255.9 )

8.4 mile run this evening. I saw a desert turtle tonight- the first one in 2008. Over to GS and up the sandy poweline trail and around the top part of Middleton in 59:53. Pretty good time for that track. Plus the long mile or so up the sandy trail there was also a pretty good headwind.

(Red Stratus 292.9)

14.3 mile morning run. Same loop as yesterday. I felt surprisingly fresh this morning all things considered. I didn't wear the garmin today so theres no date to back up what felt like a pretty good run.

(Blue Cumulus 305.4)

No running this afternoon. I drove up to Torrey to start my weekend fishing trip on the way to the Bullfrog marina at Lake Powell. Anyways the wind here was gal force and it's very cold. So I'll just wait until we get to the lake and try to get something in. Most likely my week is going to go to pot as far as mileage goes. But I only get one of these good trips a year for the most part.

A good run today on the way to Lake Powell. I got dropped out a couple miles above a town called Ticabo on the way to Bullfrog marina and then ran from there to the boat ramp. It was good downhill for about 2.5 miles at the start and 2.5 miles at the end but most of the rest was a good hill climb. I wasn't really planning on doing tempo pace but just fell into it and kind of got in the zone and ran the whole run at 6:15 pace with all the uphill. I was pretty proud of myself after because after driving it back it looked tough. Anyways I felt great this morning and it was one of the best runs for me this year in one of my favorite places.

The fishing today was rotten... I only caught one and nobody else caught one.

(White Cumulus 270.8)

After sleeping out under the stars I got up and did a 10 mile run this morning right down by the Bullfrog marina. I did some laps on this little loop and then back to the parking lot. The run wasn't as glamorous this morning as it was yesterday but I got it in and out of the way for to clear up the rest of the day at the lake.

Fishing today was great. I honestly lost track of how many fish I caught. We got up into this canyon south of Bullfrog and really jumped on a bunch of Walleye fish. It was fun because you don't catch Walleye every day and they are one of the very best to eat. I'm going to have fun with the BBQ when I get back home.

Now I have to write a talk for church tomorrow because I'm a "guest" speaker here in the Torrey ward- even though I grew up here.

(Landreth 156.7) 

12.3 mile morning run. Standard overpass loop. Good to be back home in the STG. Looking forward to a good week of training with at least one good tempo run somewhere along the line.

The run was good today I had this song and video stuck in my head the whole time.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=jmbmPalsRi4

The word on the street is that Steve Hooper can dance like this.

(Blue Stratus 314.4)

8.7 mile run this afternoon/ evening. Up to the powerline and down around GS then back home long around Middleton. It is starting to get warm out, but I like the results after a hard workout in the heat.

(Red Stratus 301.6)

12.3 mile run this morning. Regular overpass loop. I heard someone whistling at me an I thought it was my secret girlfriend and I turned around and it was Dave on his way to work. I didn't have a garmin on today but the pace felt dead slow. Mik'L and I have a lot going on in our lives right now with our business and other things like looking at new houses and stuff. We've really been blessed the last few months but it does bring a little more stress with the decisions we are having to make every day.

Now I'm off to go work up in Cedar City for the day. Hopefully I'll eat at Bruno's for lunch.

(Landreth 169)

20.1 mile run this morning. I don't know for sure what I've got planned this weekend and so I decided to take advantage of my day off today and do my long run- most likely the last long run before the Ogden marathon. I did the trail up to Winchester Hills loop. I also wanted to get some marathon pace tempo mile in coming back into town. The first 9 something miles are up a rocky trail with an elevation gain of over 1,200ft- so needless to say the pace is slow and allows one time to warm up. Then I got to the golf course and got a drink and took a GU to get ready for the tempo. I ran from the golf course over to the base of the Winchester Hill's hill and there I'd start the 5 mile tempo down into town. Tempo- avg 5:26 pace for 5 miles. 1.5:33- A good strong start up from the bottom of the hill. I also am pushing a strong wind but decide I need to do this regardless of pace- the effort needs to be there. 2.5:32- Start trying to get the turnover into the wind. 3.5:12- A really good downhill section helps me roll regardless of the winds powers! 4.5:35- Not sore or trashed yet but I do stop paying attention and the pace shows. 5.5:15- I regroup for one more mile at pace. Now the tempo is done I just have to make it from the running store back home and it's starting to get warm (over 80). I make my way through town needing a drink and looking like death, I'm sure. Now back at home and the scale says 143.5!!! A new low for me by more than 2lbs. Really, really glad to be done and ready to spend some quality time on the sofa.

(Blue Cumulus 325.5)

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 )