Clyde's Comeback!

Nice good run this morning south of STG actually in and out of AZ. A good group of guys: Bill, Dave, James and Logan. The sun was out and it felt good out- a nice way to bring in the new year. For the last 8 years or so I've played in a golf tourney on New Years day but this year we decided not to do it so I was able to run. During our little run we went and visited more rock art left by the natives here in the area. In the last couple days I've seen some really cool pictures. Anyways now to relax, eat a pizza and watch some football. 

I'm a walking mess. I ended up getting sick again this holiday season after Fridays run. So another day on the couch for me. Mentally I'm so sick of being sick I could almost go insane.

5.4 mile B-hills loop this morning. It was brisk and my face was cold. 

6.6 mile B-hills loop this evening with my uncle. Nice and easy.  

Went out south of town to the Little Black Mt and did a loop out there. For the most part it was the same loop as I did with the guys last week. Only I kept going past the petroglyphs about a mile and then turned south until hitting the powerline road that looped back to the jeep. I was surprised to see that it was a perfect 10 mile loop and decided to do it once more. First lap in 1:13:35

Total time 2:22:04 so around a 7:07 min mile avg for the run. I didn't ever feel in the groove but I never felt crappy either. So I guess I'll take it. Started the run at around 1 p.m and it was BEA-utiful outside. Shorts and headphones and lots of sunshine. 

Did the B-hills loop this morning. Was kind of sore and very tired but got through the run. I didn't sleep a wink last  night and it always hurts my running. I'll just chill the rest of the day and not go out again. Hopefully I can get out twice on Thursday with the club run and all. 

Club run tonight at the DC. We did a shorter run around the 5 mile loop and extended up to the gas station before we left. Then I looped up around STG Ford and into Bloomington then back up the trail for a few more. As I was coming up the trail down in Bloomington Aaron came running up behind me and we chatted for a little over a mile back up to the DC. He pushed the pace so we hit that mile around 6:15 but the rest of the run was walkie talkie pace. 

It was a beautiful 60 f this afternoon here in Dixie when I went out at 3 p.m. Once running I was hot but it felt amazing. I dropped Myler off at grandmas and ran from her house down around Bloomington and back on the trail. I had to stop over at St. George Ford to get the other set of keys to a car I bought on Saturday. The run was great with no hammy pain. I stayed at a pretty consistent pace of 7 min miles but did roll from the bottom of Bloomington up to River Road at around 6:30 pace. Roughly 4 miles. Nothing snappy but a little faster turnover to help push the avg for the run down to 6:56. Feeling really good about training right now and that makes me smile more than Mc Donalds does. 

Out and back run today over to the DC pushing Myler in the jogger. The temps were lovely again and really gave me a rush of spring fever. I just took things smooth as to try and not aggravate the hammy at all. Myler enjoyed the ride and fell asleep after two miles and didn't wake up until we had about a mile to go. It was a great run and fun to see so many people out running, walking or biking on the trails. 

Ran over to Webb hill and did 3 repeats up it with Logan. They sucked big time. I was dead on the first one and hit it in 8:18. Then on the second I felt a little better but the time was slower at 8:20. The third was hard from the start and was the slowest at 8:30. None of these were at all out effort. In fact we just ran them at around regular 7:15 effort on a flat road. Then I extended around the Knolls on the way home to round it off at 12. Good workout but a hard one for my present shape. 

B-hills inner loop this morning. Legs and body both felt trashed... dead! But managed to make the rounds. I won't be able to go to the club run tonight as I forgot and scheduled a run in Hurricane with my uncle. So if anyone is out there at 5 I'll be doing 5 miles as a slow and easy pace. 

Ended up not going to Hurricane and then just felt like not running here with the club either. Just kind of trashed and tired. So a evening at home resting for then next two days of longer runs.  

Nice longish run this morning. Up early so I could finish before Mik'L went to the office. I took the new parkway out around by SunRiver and then followed the river trail up to and then around through B-hills back home. I felt pretty good but never pushed it. Just hung out around the 6:50 and 7 min guy the entire run. Only one potty stop and I ate Taco Bell last night. Now to rest up for another longer run tomorrow. 

2 loops out at little black mt with the guys. We had a good chat and made our way around the first lap. Then hit the truck and hydrated then went back out. On the second loop we took the first 5 miles really easy... maybe slower than on the first lap. After that we started to lay down some tracks. Logan and I were feeling it with some nice smooth strides as we rolled back at around a 6 min mile avg. It was nice to finish off a strong week with a strong run. Feeling like I'm getting closer to were I want to be before the race on the 13th of Feb. 

Logan and I ran out in the rain on the Barrel Roll trail above Santa Clara. It looked pretty nasty out but one we got going the weather was never an issue. We looped it once and were at 9 miles back to the truck. The we did an out and back down into Green Valley to put us at 17.1 for the day. Slow and easy out on the rocky trails. This will be good training for our race coming up. 

Dropped Myler off at grandmas and then did a run up around B-hills over to Flying J. Then down into Bloomington to the trail and back up to River Road then over to her house. About two miles into it the rain started and for about the next 4 miles I got soaked- it was cold too. Then I had a potty stop at the DC and just tried to make it back to the house. Not a great run at all. In fact for some reason it beat the crap out of me. I know one reason is the shoes I had on are done. Running on flat shoes really trashes the entire body... cuz now my back hurts too. Anyways another day another dollar... but glad it's done. 

Meat Grinder Wednesdays... Logan and I met at the hill and did three "grinders". I felt flat before we started so you can guess how they went. Neither one of us timed them but I'm guessing they were about what they were last week. Pushed through them and then finished the run back around the Knolls like I did last week. 

Got a short run in this morning out in the dark and rain. Legs felt pretty good after yesterdays hill workout. Lots of rain this week: good and bad. Good cuz we really, really need the water. Bad cuz it makes it hard to get runs in when it's cold and wet out. Hopefully it's not muddy and wet on Sat for our 30 mile (speed) workout. 

6.3 miles on the treadmill this evening. It was raining way too much to go out and do the club run. If anyone else went bless your souls.  

Took the day off before the big workout on Saturday. 

Well this goes down as one of the top 3 workouts in my lifetime for a number of reasons. First I wanted to bail and do it next week because we've had hard rain for a week. That equals mud to your hind end. Second I knew there would be mud. Third there was a chance of even more showers this morning after raining all night and that could lead to mud. However Logan used the commitment pattern on me on the phone and next thing I know by 8 a.m I was running out in the mud. 

The plan was to do 3 loops out at Little Black Mt. Each loop is a perfect 10 miles. So we wanted to do the first one as a kind of long warm up. Then run the second at trail race effort. Then do the third as a longish cool down. All in all a nice 30 mile day.

So we hit the first lap in 1:15. Not bad considering 100 meters from the truck we were already in bad mud. Shoes were caked and we had just begun. The first 2.3 miles of the loop were by far the worst. I told Logan if there would have been alligators this could pass as a swamp. Just gooey, slimy mud about 5 inches deep every step. After that it was hit and miss but still very muddy all the way around.

Anyways as we started the second loop we were a little hesitant to even try any "tempo" because what could you really do in this? Well we did very well if I dare say so. After plowing through the now even muckier first few we settled into a smooth flow. It was however always hampered with the spot where you would about loose a shoe in deep mud but we hit this lap in 1:07. Really good considering...

The last lap was going to be nice and easy as our reward for breaking 1:08 on the second lap. But Logan kept the pace honest and again after we snorkeled through the first now painful section we hit the final lap in 1:12. A great time considering.

3:34:20 for 30 miles in those conditions had us both pretty jazzed about our up coming race in Moab. We finally made it back to my house and I was in the first stages of hypothermia having been wet for hours and now cooled down. But now after a hot shower and some grub I'm really glad we pushed through such an epic workout.   

5.4 mile loop this afternoon before my uncle came over. I took my phone with me and he called when I had about 2.5 left. So for the remainder of that loop I laid down the hammer and ran hard back home. I didn't have a watch but I'm guessing the pace was at or just under 6 min. Felt good because I knew it was only going to be for a short time and it was nice because I had wanted to do some tempo stuff this week. 

6.6 mile loop with him. Pace was somewhere at around 8 min mile. He is running great and showing some strong improvements. We never had to stop and walk either.   

B-hills loop this morning. Felt kind of tired but other than that good. It was a nice morning with blue skies looming. Now to start a busy day and start crossing things off the list. 

Was planning on running 20 this morning with Steve but it was raining cats and dogs. Then it rained almost all day and I was busy... long story short I let this one slip by the way side. 

B-hills loop this morning. There was a thick fog out and it seemed pretty weird out on the streets. Reminded me of living in the UK with the wet streets, fog and dark clouds. By the time I got back home the fog was so thick I could seek water molecules in the air and I was basically swimming. Kind of fun seeing that here in the desert. Now it's beautiful blue ski day out!

12 miles tonight. I did 2 before the guys showed and then 10 with the club. Nice run over to the Knolls park and back. Felt pretty good but my stomach was kind of sketchy. I took some advile before the run on an empty tummy and that got things jacked. The hammy was a little tight too but nothing crazy. Good to finally get out with most the guys again.  

After my run on Thursday my stomach was way jacked and I spent the night by trying to throw up (never did  but would have felt better if I could have). I can't believe that I'm sick again!

No run again today. Still kind of sick. I was going to try a shorter run in the afternoon but we ended up going up to Torrey for the night. Hopefully with all this rest I can be ready for a good week next week and then a good race then next. 

A pleasant run this evening around B-hills and the Knolls. I didn't get out until dusk but the temps were still great. The smell of BBQ's in several locations along the run made me a little giddy for spring. It took about 4 miles for the legs to get going as I haven't ran since last Thursday. So this was a Monday (times two). But once warmed I felt great and tried to float around the streets. Very relaxing run.  

Nice morning run with Paul H. We did the B-hills loop at a comfortable 7:30 pace. Legs felt good and it was nice to get out with Paul again after not running with him for a few weeks. He did the first 8 with me then I extended back around the Knolls to add a couple more. 

I'm kind of getting worried about the race in Moab. Not about me or but about the weather. After the last few weeks of stormy weather there has been an ample amount of snow in the Moab region... and it's been cold. Bone chilly cold. Like a high of 25 F everyday. There are a few more storms on the forecast between now and next weekend and that could lead to more snow... So anyways if the race still happens I'm guessing the course isn't going to be fast. Logan and I are feeling good and wanted to see how we matched up with the course record. Not saying we'd get it but after a solid race it would be fun to see how our times compared. Anywho I at least hope it still happens as we have some nonrefundable rooms.  

5.4 mile loop this afternoon with my uncle. Nice and slow but a good run. It was kind of good for the legs to just shake out after doing house work all day.  

Nice solid tempo workout tonight. In fact it may be the longest tempo type workout since back in sept of 2008. I did a out and back run of 5.5 miles that put me around the Knolls over through B-hills and right over by the freeway on the trail. I went out in 37:26 and that was around 6:48 pace. On the way back the only goal I had was to negative split and to not overdue it. 

I turned around and got going here are the splits: 6:13, 5:55, 6:03, 5:44, 5:51, and 5:50 pace for the last half mile. For a total of 32:36 and a 5:56 avg for the 5.5 miles back.

Nothing amazing or anything but very exciting for someone coming off an injury and hasn't ran any speed for like 16 or 17 months. It was kind of fun and the hammy really didn't act up. Plus I didn't feel like I was killing myself. I mean I was working and had to focus but not maxing out. So we will see how the legs and hammy feel in the next day or two.  

Did the B-hills loop this morning before Mik'L had to go. I just took it easy and tried to loosen up the legs. They felt really good considering last nights little tempo run. No real soreness. So it was nice to just shake them out. 

10 miles with the club tonight. We did a out and back. Down the trail to Bloomington and then over the bridge to the other trail that runs down into SunRiver. We had to follow a dirt road for a mile or so on the bottom end to get the distance. On the way down we were at 7:25ish pace and on the way back we hit a 7:01 avg. My quads were a little sore and trashed from yesterdays workout. Kind of a delayed soreness. Most likely I'll take it easy tomorrow as to not overdue things.  

B-hills loop this evening with .2 extended. My legs are kind of dead. I pushed a mini tempo workout on Wednesday and boy I can sure feel it now. It hurts... in a good way. I worked in the yard for a spell today burning weeds and other junk and that wore me out too. So tonight I ran very easy. It aint nothin but a G' thang baby. 

Met up with Dave and Logan this morning on the Warner Valley road. We did an out and back run down the road. It had rained all night and in some sections the road was very, very muddy. Other sections weren't too bad and we were able to maintain a honest pace. However the muddy sections were honestly horrible. It was the clay sections that were the worst. Anywho a very solid workout all the way around as we hit a 7:22 pace avg.

Now to tapper off hard before the race next week. I hope to be well rested and healthy for Moab and then we'll see what happens.... it's gonna be cold that's for sure.

B-hills loop this morning. The run was punishing. My legs were totally dead and I was tired after the first mile. Just had to focus on form and push on through to the house. Glad to be done for the day. I'll continue to taper off and hopefully it will bring my legs back. 

Pushed Myler around B-hills. My legs felt much better today and have finally dropped the soreness that I was packing around after last weeks tempo workout. We just peacefully made our way around the loop but then it started to rain (again) and I had to go into all out tempo for about a mile and a half so the little guy didn't get wet, cold and sick. Anyways we made it back safe. I'm amazed with all the rain we've had this year. I've only seen it rain in Utah like this once before and that was in 2005 when houses were floating down the river. There has been a lot of precipitation- a good thing. 

Out and back into B-hills pushing Myler. It was a nice sunny day and a enjoyable run. The hammy and calves were a little tight through 4 miles but then loosened up. Not much but something I hope to avoid on Saturday. 

I hauled compost onto the garden this morning from the landfill. They sell the best stuff out there and for cheap. They filled my truck bed up with wet compost for only $7.50. A bag of the same type stuff at Lowes is like 4 bucks. Anyways the garden is ready to plant... maybe next week.  

Went down to the DC to club. I didn't think anyone would be there and they weren't. I just wanted a short run tonight so I looped the B-hills-River road loop. Plus added a little in some mud out on a trail to test my trail running gaiters. They worked ok. I'm not pumped about wearing them but think with all the mud and snow they will be worth it. Anyways did the loop in 6:57 avg pace and the legs felt really giddy. 

A quick run with Steve and Logan around the golf course. 

1 mile warm up with Logan. 20 F at the start. 

35 miles... race was only 32 miles but....

We started out and from the begining I was feeling it today. Everything was clicking. Smooth, fast and swift with low effort. So I lead up to about 5 miles and then two guys took off and I though I'd back off and just kind of hang behing them. Then we hit snow- up to our knees until mile 13ish. This section sucked big time but everyone had to deal with it. Splits were way slow and I tripped twice here in the crusty stuff. After the second aid station (13 miles) we hit a flatter road with snow but it had been driven on so we could now (run). Karl was right by me here but I laid it down and couldn't see him anyomre by around 17.

I was in 2nd place and closoing fast on the first guy and feeling like never before. Just felt great. Then I took a wrong road and went out 1.5 miles before I realized what had happend.... SUCK! Back around and to the course. I was totally crushed. Couldn't believe I was so stupid and at that point I lost the fire. Just kind of slowley made my way back in (this all happened at mile 21). From here on out I walked up all the hills and was so sad... I really wanted to lie down and cry. Ended up taking 2 more bad turns but only lost around 5 min's total on those.

I'm so mad. I know I would have won. I haven't felt this smooth forever and was only getting stronger until the wrong turn. The guy who was in front of me totally died. Plus I would have caught him in under half a mile.

I'm really ready to run a race without any *'s by them. Like this one was great and I know I would have won but.... It's time for some positive karma.  Anyways finished in like 10th overall and just under 5 hours. I was totally on pace to break 4 and this was on a very slow year.

Karl Meltzer won the race but when he finished he thought he was in 2nd... to me. He didn't know I had gotten lost. He ran a 4:19. I think I would have been in the 3:50's.

What do you do? It's not his fault I can't follw instructions so a win's a win. But I was't the only one who got lost more that once today.

B-hills loop this afternoon. I wasn't going to run and was going to let the legs rest but it was too nice out. I love this time of year. I'm fairly sore and mostly tired from the race on Saturday. I'll take the week fairly easy and try and work the kinks out of the system. 

It was another great day but I didn't get a run in. Since coming home from Moab we've had Myler in to see the Doc 3 times. He's been bad- really bad. He's got this horrible rash, redness all over his body that has started to peel off and leaves his skin dry and cracking. He looks like his whole body has horrible burns all over it. It's been so sad to see him so jacked up. His poor eyes have been swollen shut and all filled with goop. The doc said it's some kind of allergic reaction but nothing more specific. So for  now we've been drugging him up with some meds and are hopping for the best. 

B-hills loop this afternoon after Mik'L got home from the office. The hammy has been pretty sore and achey since the race. That sucks because it didn't bother me at all the week of the race or during... but it's sure sore now. The weather rocks. I might have to point that out everyday- it's really that nice. 

Myler is still really sick. A fever of 102.7 and a total body rash, redness, peeling, cracks and pain. I feel so bad for him but don't know what else to do... as we are following the dr's orders and will most likely go back on Thursday morning for the 4th day in a row.  

Club run tonight. From the DC down around Bloomington and back up. I'm just trying to keep things smooth and easy while working out the kinks. My hammy has been sore all week and the last day or so my left ankle has really hurt. I'm guessing from all the rough footing during the race. I never really "rolled" it but it rocked back and forth too many times to count. Anyways just kind of crippled at the moment. All this and then Bill and Steve wanted to race during the club run. I just had to let them go. Main goal was to relax and try to loosen up. So James and I just hung back and chit chatted. Beautiful evening for a run. 

Ran the B-hills river loop in revers. My left ankle and hammy are really sore. Ankle is around a 8 out of 10 and hammy is around 7. So the pace was slow. 

Mik'L had Stone Cliff's annual meeting this morning so I couldn't join the guys. My ankle and hammy are both very sore so I decided to not run today... and it was very rainy out. There is so much rain this year!

Hammy killed today- 9 out of 10

Ankle was a little better- 6.5 out of 10

 I had Mik'L roll my hammy out. It hurt so so bad. She got right on the knot or tear and applied a lot of force. I screamed! I also used the electric impulse thing and later that night I felt light years better. More like a 4 out of 10.  

B-hills river loop. It rained a ton on Sat and Sunday so I wanted to get out and look for flooding... it's got to happen sometime with all this rain. Plus my hammy felt much better this morning than it did yesterday. Ran slow. No watch but I know slow and this was right there. I had some general stiffness but no major pain. Hammy was at a 4.5 and ankle was still about a 6. 

The river was high and muddy but no real flood. There was a few places where puddles had swallowed the road and the golf course bathroom was being pumped out because of flooding. Also all the fairways are entirely saturated. But I was disappointed not to find any real floods- no houses floating down the river, bridges washed out, you know the good stuff.  

Messed around out in Little Valley for a couple and then looped the Stone Cliff hill. It was cold out this morning. 29F and here I thought winter was over. I actually planted a few rows of corn, peas and onions in the garden a few days ago. Hopefully they hadn't germinated yet and there will be no harm done. I know for sure nothing has broke the surface. 

Anyways the run was pretty good other than the cold face. I felt like I was dragging and running pretty slow- but ended up with a 7:02 avg for the run. So not  bad at all. Ankle is at a 2 or 3 and hammy is around a 4 still. I didn't have Mik'L roll it out for me last night and need to continue to do so as it really helps.  

Ran over to the freeway via the Knolls and down to the trail in Bloomington then back up and through B-hills back home. Kind of gloomy out today with temps at 38F when I left. My ankle was around a 2 when I left but after running for a mile or so it loosened up and I really didn't notice anymore pain. Hammy however was pretty tight still. Maybe only a 4 on the pain scale but it felt like a tight guitar string that was about to bust. Just going to have Mik'L continue to roll it out. Last night while rolling it she isolated about a egg size knot right in the middle. Hope to be able to work that out. 

7:02 avg for the run this morning.  

The day slipped away from me. We had to go up to Cedar this afternoon and I just didn't get out. 

Ran early on the B-hills river loop. Everything felt pretty good. Hammy maybe at a 2 and ankle was about all better.... maybe like a 1. It was kind of chilly but not too bad after I got going. 

Nice group run today from Steve's house. Steve, Bill, Mike W and myself. I saw Dave doing his run on my way over there (he had some stuff going on and had to be done early). Anyways it was good to see Mike again. We ran up to GS and hit most of my old trails on the powerline and down turkey farm then around the industrial park before heading back to Steve's. I loved it. I miss those trails so bad and it feels like years have gone by since I last ran out there. Then on the way back down and around Steve picked it up and I just kind of stayed relaxed and kept him close. I'm still trying to work out the bugs in my legs and body since Moab. My hammy got a little tight on the last 2 miles and the ankle was semi sore. Hoping for a solid week coming up before doing this Lake to Lake relay...

Inner B-hills loop. Nice and easy to start off the week and month. I'm running the Lake to Lake relay this weekend down here and need to really get things going this week before trying to race. I'll try and clean up the diet along with running a few doubles and doing a lot of core workouts. Then a mini taper on Friday and hopefully I'll feel semi racey... we'll see. Blue skies out today- should be a good one. 

8 mile run this afternoon pushing Myler around the B-hills/ River loop. He never fell asleep but never made a sound either. Must have been really into the run. I felt pretty good- all things considered. Just relaxed and tried to keep hips and stride square with smaller strides to minimize pain from hammy. 

B-hills/ River loop this morning. It was pretty warm for a morning run and I worked up a good sweat. Got home and stepped on the scale for the first time in about a month- 155lbs. Not too bad. I thought I'd be closer to 160lbs because I've been eating like a mad man. Still I'd like to be around 150ish for a better race weight. I guess it will come if I stop with the soda, ice cream and other ish in my diet.

Legs felt slow but strong on the run this morning. No major pain from the hammy- nice because I was only going around 7:30 pace for the entire run.  

5 miles tonight out in Hurricane with my uncle and my aunt. She road a bike while we ran. Pace was slow but not too bad. Whatever it ended up being it was just right.  

Nice run this morning with Paul H. We went out by the hill below the new airport and ran some dirt roads then dropped over and looped the Stone Cliff hill. It was just a touch chilly for the first two miles then after that it was amazing. When we finished it felt like a summer morning while chatting on the street. Should be another good day- yesterday it was 70F out here in Little Valley. 

Anyways the run was great too. We just ran a conversational 7:25 pace and the legs felt great throughout. No pain at all. I know it's not forever but once in a while a pain free run sure feels like a million bucks.  

Club run tonight at the dC. We just went out and back up the river. On the way up the pace seemed nice and smooth. Then we turned around and had a nice headwind on the way back. I hate wind! I decided to just try and run relaxed with good form and hit around a 7 min avg. Ended up hitting 7:03 for the run. I felt really good for whatever that means. 

B-hills loop this morning. It was 35F and just a little chilly. I hoped that the 30's were gone until next fall but maybe a few more weeks until we can write them off. 

The legs were a little stale today. I just couldn't ever get into a good groove. Most likely I'll relax and won't run again until the relay tomorrow. But if I'm feeling frisky I'll do some barefoot tonight to help the form straighten up.  

Ran the Lake to Lake Relay today with Bill, James, Dustin and Steve. We had a good time and ran pretty good too. I ran legs 5, and 10- so kind of the anchor legs. Our order was kind of messed up because Steve had to leave early. So it went: Steve, Dustin, James, Steve, Me, Bill, Dustin, James, Bill,  Me. 

Not the best case for everyone but me. I had the total rest time but some of the guys had to run just two legs after running. Kind of tough to do- but they did great. We were in third place after the first leg and then Dustin and James put us into 1st by my first leg.

Leg 5- 5.6 miles (should have been 5.98). I ran it in just under 29:00 but forgot to stop the watch so I didn't have an exact.

Splits: 5:25, 5:30, 5:53, 5:38, 5:43, 5:34 pace for the last part.

My garmin said 5:38 avg for the leg but might have been a little faster if I'd have stopped the watch. Nonetheless I was happy! Going into the race I thought I'd be thrilled to avg 6 min pace for my legs. I just didn't know what to expect after not racing or running hard for so long. Anyways the leg is like .5% grade downhill for the first 2 miles and then a solid mile or so climb then drops for about a mile and levels off to finish. Not a hard leg but with the climb not easy- it was rated 7 out of 10 for difficulty. I felt good with no hammy pain and only about barfed once at the top of the hill climb.

Then I handed off to Bill who ran a solid leg, then he to Dustin, then Dustin to James and James back to Bill. When Bill took off we had around 4 min and 20 second lead. But Bills leg was tough- and for that matter the wind had picked up and everyone from Dustin back had been fighting a headwind. Bill on short recovery was running against the 2nd place teams fastest runner (Kory). So Kory caught Bill and gapped him by around 1 min and 30 seconds. I totally didn't want to run hard and had been dreaming about relaxing on the finial leg to a win...

Leg 10- 4.8 miles in 28:22 for an avg of 5:55.  This leg starts with a .5 mile climb and then you drop down the other side for about the same. Then it's a gradual climb to mile 3ish and levels off or kind of rolly the last couple. 

Splits: 5:21 (got out fast... maybe too fast), 5:44, 5:58, 6:37, 5:54 pace on the last .8.

So I was trying to run down the lead kid here and caught him at around mile 3. As we climbed up the dam by the lake I could see the finish line stuff and people were yelling "go, finish hard". So I thought I was basically done... Not when I got to the entrance to the parking lot I realized we still had to go out and back a long the lake and I just about died at the thought. Here the wind was pounding (hence the 6:37 mile). I just couldn't go any faster against it and it was warm or maybe even hot now as the sun was roasting me. Mouth dry and legs done I went out the the turn around and then back to the finish. Not a strong or pretty finish but fun to have caught the (Decker team) and got a win for us.

Overall I'm really excited about how the legs did today. Like I said if you would have given me 5:59 avg pace last night I would have taken it. Hopefully I can use this race to spring board myself into some faster training workouts and maybe find the runner I lost 16 months ago? 

A.M.

B-hills/river loop. I felt pretty good at the first part of the run with no signs of race soreness. But the last couple miles or so the quads kind of said "yes we are". Nothing too bad and the hammy was only mild with pain as well. I think after Mik'L rolls it out tonight I should be pretty good for the week. 

I'll try and get in a pretty solid week of mileage and maybe one good tempo or something. There is only 2 weeks until The Spectrum 10k and I'd really like to be a little more confident before that race.

 P.M.

Ran out in the fields then over to my in-laws to meet Mik'L and Myler. I just ran smooth and easy. It was cooler out but it felt almost perfect. Hammy was kind of naggy but not too bad.  

B-hills/River loop. I got soaked in the rain. I left the house at 7:30 and it rained the entire run. Other than being cold and wet I felt pretty good. Just kind of in a daze as I made my way around. I'm in awe at the amount of rain this season. I've never seen rain like tis in Utah before. There is a wether station at a school just a mile from my house and it has recorded 8.79 inches of  rain for the year. The avg is like 2.5. With more on it's way this has to be on pace for some kind of record. 

I had to laugh as I was running down by the river. It was running high and muddy almost at a flood level. But above the trail there were some new puddles made from the rain and the ducks were sitting on them like it was real pond. Kind of funny.  

7 mile run on the treadmill at noon. Kind of a crazy morning at the house so I waited until Myler went to sleep in his pack and play and then ran. I watched Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade for the first time in at least 10 years. That was the only good part. I struggled on the treadmill. I felt like I'd been on there for ever and looked to see I'd only been running for about 20 min's. Anyways 7 painful miles in 52 mins. 

10 miles tonight after Mik'L got home for the office. I started out doing the B-hills/River loop. But when I got over into B-hills I decided to just turn around at mile 5 and do a out-n-back. On the way back I picked up the pace but not full tempo. Just a little faster and harder effort than normal running pace.  

Started throwing up in the middle of the night (late Wednesday or early Thurs) been sick to my tummy ever since. 

Stomach still very uneasy today. No vomiting but not able to really eat and put anything down. This sucks. 

Actually felt semi good this morning. However I haven't really eaten anything since Wednesday night and so I would be too weak to run. Plus Mik'L had a early morning meeting that lasted all day so I just planned on a extended recovery until Monday. This week ended up just fizzling out. Sad cuz I was feeling pretty good early on and looking forward to racing next weekend but now there is a slim chance. 

Oh lovely. The stomach flu I had last week turned into a fever/ head cold in church on Sunday. I could feel it getting worse and worse every hour. In the end I had some bad night sweeting and it felt like my eyeballs were going to melt from the fever. It seems I've been sick more this year than the whole rest of my life. I'm blaming it on Myler... he's too little to defend himself and makes an easy target. 

75 degrees today here in the STG. With weather like that how can you not feel better? Well I finally came out of my funk and got the body going again. When Mik'L got home from work we did a family tour de the fields. She pulled the dogs and Myler in the bike trailer while I ran. It was a nice evening event. I felt like I hadn't ran in 6 days and had been sick. Supper Sloppy but that was to be expected. 

Pushed Myler in the jogger this morning. We did part of the B-hills loop over to the DC. Then up the trail to River Road and back down the other trail into B-hills again. Then back over to River Road and home. It was a perfect day out. I had on only short shorts and a running tank. When we got home at around noon it was already 70F. Lovely! Legs felt ok as I pushed a sleep boy around. We hit the run in 1:29:59 so right at 7:30 avg. 

2 hour mt. bike ride with my cousin today. We did around 11 miles up on the Barrel Roll trail. It was hot, I got sun burned. Good ride though. It's been a long time since I had the bike out.  

Went to Club and ran with James and Haydo. James and I did a mile before Hayden showed and then we all did the Bloomington loop. I barley made it back to the restrooms before having to go BIG #2. Wow it was a stressful moment wondering if I'd make it back. 

6:56 avg around the B-hills/River loop. I went back into B-hills instead of going up by the golf course so it added .1 from the regular loop. Felt kind of o.k. but not amazing. Still packing some bugs around in my system. I could use a Z-pack. 

B-hills river loop tonight. I didn't get out until 10:30 p.m so it made for a late night run. For me that's really late. I had a busy day working in the yard and just didn't get out earlier. Anyways tonight the run was pretty good. Nice and peaceful out. The legs felt pretty good. I didn't have a watch but from the flow of it I'm sure we passed the 7 min guy before the run was over. 

Went to Star Nursery today to buy some plants for around the house... Well I got carried away and bought 20 palm trees, 2 fruit trees, and 2 Wilson Olive bushes. That made for a long, long day of digging holes, shoveling dirt, wheelbarreling dirt and compost ect. I started the process at 8:30 a.m and didn't finish until 6:30 p.m. I got plenty of sun a long the way and in the end was DEAD. I really wanted to run as to start the week off strong and get things going with my training but I guess I'll start tomorrow. The yard looks good and is really coming along.    

Out and back over to the DC and back. It was breezy but still nice out this afternoon/ evening. Ran nice and smooth over and then a little faster on the way back maybe 6:30ish pace on the way home. I really felt good- not typical for the first of the week. Hopefully I'll be able to load up on some miles and kind of be able to really train this week. 

Out and back into B-hills. I was heading out to do the loop and then just over halfway I decided to turn around. Not sure why. It just sounded good. Felt good, a little hungry but the legs were feeling great. 

B-hills loop with Don. I was tired this afternoon and had to push myself up and out the door. But 2 miles into it I started t feel better. It was a nice easy jog to loosen up the legs for the night. 

12.3 miles this morning. Ran with Paul today down around B-hills and up to River road. It was a very nice spring morning. A little crisps as the sun came up but perfect after we warmed up. The loop seemed shorter than this but that's due to Paul's great conversations. I had to loop into the DC for a potty stop. It could have been the brats I had the night before.

8.1 miles with the club. We looped up around Southgate and then did the Bloomington loop. On the way back Steven was feeling frisky so I went with him. Hit one mile at 5:40 and the other one just at 5:29. Then did a short cool down after so the legs wouldn't cramp up. Felt good to run fast but maybe because it was only for 2 miles.  

Ran the same loop that Paul and I did yesterday- but added .1 and thought it was going to be more. I pushed the pace most of the run. All the way out to Bloomington I had a bad headwind then once on the river trail I kind of got a tail/ crosswind that felt great and pushed me all the way up to River road. The last mile or so I could feel my legs were spent and just had to go into relax mode. 

Earlier in the day I hauled off a large tree off the south property line. I had to cut it down because it was old and dead. Then I hauled 2 flatbed trailer loads of bark onto the side yard. That equaled about 25 loads shoveled into the wheelbarrow. Fun stuff. I'm kind of getting sick of yard stuff. Luckily I'm about done with my project list.  

Good long run today. We met at my house and did the parkway loop with a little extra added on. The first 4 miles were smooth and slow between 8:10-7:40 min miles. Then Steve took off at around 6:20 pace and at first I just let him go but after a mile or so I started to at least match his pace. So we did that until mile 10. Then (out on the overpass by Sunriver) Steve stopped and we all got back together. We hit the river trail and headed up to the DC. Up the trail was still under 6:20 pace but it felt comfortable. Then from the DC back to my house out around the Knolls it's like 6.1 miles so I decided to try and hold sub 6 min pace back. I did and it felt good... I mean hard but very doable. Not bad at the end of a long run in my current shape. Ended the run with a 6:46 min mile avg. Good run and a pretty solid week with not running on Monday. 

A.M. B-hills loop this morning. It felt like a Monday morning run as the legs were stale and not too motivated. Plus I'm sick of the shoes I ran in- they are done. Looking forward to another good week with a little mini relay race on Saturday. 

P.M. Ran from my house out through the fields back over to my in-laws house. Just a shorter run before Cafe Rio for dinner. Calves are kind of sore... kind of delayed from Saturdays run I guess.  

A.M. B-hills/River loop. Calves weren't as sore today as yesterday. It was a beautiful morning. No wind and just calm and springy. I love seeing all the new growth: flowers coming up, leaves and blossoms on the trees, grass nice and green. 

P.M. B-hills loop. Legs felt really good and had the wind not been at a gail force and I not being rushed for time. I would have did an impromptu longer tempo run. But Mik'L was waiting for me and the wind was blowing so hard it blew my neighbors dog over (so she claims). Before the wind picked up it was 80 F today. The first time of the year. Last year It was 80 F like the very first week of March or maybe even the last day in Feb.  

5 mile warm up

6.2 miles at Tinman tempo

6.1 mile cool down back home 

Well I was going to do this workout at 5 a.m but didn't get up. I paid the price because early this morning the weather was nice and mild. By the time I did the workout the wind was howling and beat me up pretty good. I started out out around the Knolls  and then made my way over to the freeway. The 5  mile mark put me on down by the river below the gas station. There I started the tempo. The plan was to hit tinman (6 min miles) for just over 6 miles. But the wind was just pounding and I hit the first mile (should have been the easiest one of them all due to grade and freshness) in 6:07 but it was a true 5:20 effort. That put me over to the bridge before the Bloomington loop. Then I did the loop (which is 3 miles) and back up the trail by the river to the Dixie Center. I actually stopped the tempo at the wood bridge just as you cross the river before the parking lot of the DC.

Anyways finished the tempo with a 5:59 min mile avg. On paper thats exactly what I wanted but I paid much more of an effort to get it due to the wind. From there I ran back home through Bloomington Hills and back around the Knolls (again) for an extended cool down. Even then when I didn't care at all what the pace was the wind was punishing. I honestly hate the wind.

This was a good workout. It will have to be my long run for the week because of the relay this weekend. I'll get a few more "tempo/ race" miles then but not much. I'm pretty spent now... and I've got to go plant a garden for my mother-in-law! 

A.M. B-hills/River loop. It was crisp and cool this morning after a little rain and a colder night. But the blue skies still made it feel like spring. The legs and body were both pretty drained. I kept trying to cut the run short in my mind. But in the end decided to go the full distance so if the wether is crappy this afternoon I could bail on it. But I'm still planning on going to club.  

P.M. Club run from the DC. There was a good group tonight so we did something different. Ran up the Green Valley road to where it goes past the spa and drops down into the trails. Then ran the dirt roads south and dropped down by the new intermediate school. Steve was pushing the pace all night and wanted to loop into Bloomington then back up the river trail. So we did that too. It turned out to be a little longer than I wanted but I never pushed the pace at all. So hopefully I can just cut back a little more tomorrow from what I was going to run. Legs felt pretty good... in general I'm just pretty tired.  

A pathetic run around the B-hills loop. I pushed Myler and I'd dead so the combo was almost too much for the little engine that could. I need my second wind for the week to finish things off and run that race. Hope to do another shorter run today and then rest up for tomorrow.  

6.6 miles this afternoon around the upper B-hills loop. Felt a lot better than a few hours earlier but still ready for a rest this evening. Hope to use the "stick" and roll the legs out good so I can get some turnover out of them tomorrow.  

3.6 mile warm up

4 mile leg of the relay 

1.7 mile cool down

Did this relay this morning with Paul and Sarah Harmer. We won the relay which was fabulous and really put a beating on the 2nd place team... the downer was that there was only 3 total relay teams. But the race was held along with a 5k and a 10 mile open race. So we were running a long with all the other runners.

All the leg were very hilly. Usually in a relay someone gets a sweet, fast leg. Not the case here. Each leg has some solid climbs. Sarah ran the first leg and did a great job already putting us in 1st place for the relay and putting us in about 10th overall place ( a great effort because she was at the end of her first 60 mile week and had some stale legs). With her increased mileage and tough hills she still finished just over 7 min miles. Then Paul ran a solid leg (he did a 60 mile bike ride yesterday) and extended our relay lead also putting us in 5th overall place.

My leg started with a not to bad .5 mile climb then back down it. Then flat and rolling for about a mile followed with a 1.9 mile climb to the finish. I don't have my splits with me but was pleased with the 5:38 avg. I'm not a great hill runner and am at the end of a solid week so the results are satisfying. I would have liked to catch the 2nd and 1st place overall guys. But they had too big of lead to start with.  The winner ran a great race in 57:50ish. For this course thats a A+. I didn't get his name but he was accompanied by several other latino runners (looked like a club). I'm guessing they may be out of Vegas.

Anyways kind of a fun little event. The race crew did an amazing job with traffic/ volunteers ect. An all out job by that gang. The weather was nice and I was home by 10:30 a.m to spend the rest of the day with the family on this Easter weekend. Thanks Paul and Sarah for letting me join your championship team... and for the chickens.   

A.M. Bloomington loop + a little. Had an ok run this morning. But it was windy and the wind really started to bug. By the time I got over to the freeway I had to do a bathroom stop so I ran over into Flying J. Then going down the south part of Sugar Leo I was just doing easy pace but the wind was pounding me. This was part of the same loop I did the other day as tempo. But the wind was blowing worse that day and I was trying to run harder. So it made me feel a little better about last weeks workout. Nonetheless I was happy to turn north for a few back up into B-hills. But then one I hit River Road back to the house the wind just thumped me. O how I do hate it.  

4.7 miles on the treadmill this evening. I wasn't going out in the rain and wind. It made me really glad I got a longish run in this morning so I didn't have to do as many on the machine. Did some air guitar while running and listening to some Zeppelin and just about fell off the sucker.  

B-hills/ river loop. Kind of chilly out this morning. 35F for the overnight low and frosty. Hopefully it didn't kill any of my veggies in the garden or the pretty pink tulips in the yard. Anyways the run was o.k. I wore some new Brooks Sumons shoes. Hated them. Felt way too flat and had no forward roll. I love the new Launch and Defyance but the Sumons is for someones else. 

P.M. Same loop as this morning. Kind of windy kind of sunny. I used the shovel way too long today and so I was dead on the run.  

Was going to do 20 this morning but just felt trashed. Ran this afternoon. Out and back in to B-hills. Kept the pace fairly quick because I was short on time. Not a full tempo but a solid push. Need to finish the week stronger and try and race on Saturday. 

A.M. B-hills/ River loop. Finally a nice (no wind) morning. I didn't wear gloves and paid the price because the hands were chilly but other than that the run was great. Legs were a little sleepy through 4 miles but then they woke up and I felt very good through the finish. 

P.M. Club run at the DC. We just did the standard Bloomington loop. We took it out fairly chill and then the pace kind of just kept creeping up. I felt good and never felt labored so I didn't think much of it. About a mile before we finished my lunch had to come out... so I hit a potty stop up in the rocks. So much fun! Then I just jogged in after that. Ended up with a 6:49 avg for the run.  

B-hills/ River loop. Nothing really to report. I felt kind of dead. Most likely I won't run later today so I can try and race tomorrow.... we'll see how that goes. I just want to get a solid push out of the body and legs to kind of see where I'm at. 

2.8 mile warm up

6.2 race miles

6.4 mile cool down

Well the goal for the race today was to just go out and have a positive experience and to see where I'm at. That simple. I got a semi ok warm up in and hit the potty 3 times and the weather was basically perfect. So how did it all boil down? Pretty good I guess. I got beat by around 15 seconds by the winner (Kyle who's last name escapes me) but I PR'd (on this course) and got some solid race miles in. Now the PR thing is kind of jaded because last time I ran the course in 2008 I was at the end of a 120 mile week and we ran the entire course as a warm up that day. So kind of not apples to apples but a PR nonetheless.

Splits-

1. 5:21- pretty solid first mile. I just kind of hung back for the first little while and then pushed the uphill.

2. 5:11- Me and Kyle are out in front now. The course kind of rolls through housing development. Split is kind of quick...

3. 5:30- This mile actually drops the most but I must have finally got control of my brain and settled into a wiser pace.

4. 5:40- From mile 4 to 6 is basically a long climb. So this mile is a pretty good effort on the fist part of the long hill. At this point Kyle kind of goes around me and gets up about 10 seconds on me. 

5. 6:14- Hill gets steeper here and I get more wore down. Kyle still up I want to go get him but I'm to weak mentally to do it. (that's what not racing for a year and a half does to a guy) Makes him weak.   

6. 5:55- Finish off the hill and then a level section back over to where the finish is. I still really feel like I could kick and catch up to Kyle but instead I just don't.

5:23 pace for the last portion of the race where it drops down to the parking lot. I feel pretty good and finally caught my breath from the uphill. 

2008 splits- 5:16, 5:07, 5:30, 5:45, 6:14, 5:49 (total of 34:29) Interesting that 5th mile was an identical time:)

 So I'm pretty happy about getting in some solid race miles. I hit an ok week mileage wise. Like I said the PR is kind of skewed. I mean do I feel like I'm in lifetime PR shape... NO. I was in way better overall shape back in '08 but this is a positive after not racing for so long. I'm heading in the right direction and looking forward to a little different type of training than I did way back then too. 

Lots of friends out this morning and that always makes for a fun time. Good job everyone! 

A.M. B-hills/River loop. Kind of windy out this morning but temps were nice. My gut was loaded with junk from the weekend so that part of the run was "chunky". Calves were a little sore form Saturday but not much more than the general Monday soreness. 

I'll try to go big on the miles this week. It's my bday week and I've been doing the Birthday Challenge for the last few years now. Basically to run you age on you birthday. So with that on Friday I'll try to hold the rest of the week pretty solid too and maybe top out at 100 for the first time in ages.  

8 miles this evening. Windy and kind of rainy as I finished. Even though the wind was pounding I still felt pretty smooth and strong. I wasn't trying to hold any kind of pace but the wind wasn't beating me up mentally like it has been doing.  

A.M. Pushed Myler out and back into B-hills this morning. I didn't get out of bed in time to do the run before Mik'L went to work so I had to bring Jr. It wasn't too bad though. I just took things nice and easy while he jabbered and told me a million different stories. We are having some stone work done on the front of the house so I'm going to try and help and learn how... so maybe I can do some on the back of the house eventually. 

8.1 miles tonight around the River loop. I'm changing the name of this run. Formerly know as the B-hills/River loop. River loop is easier. Anywho I was pretty dead tonight but just focused on solid form and running on tired legs. Came home and downed 75% of a large chicken bbq pizza from Papa John's.  

Out 5 in to B-hills then back with 4 miles at LT tempo. I warmed up for 5 miles over through the hills to where the trail starts up above the river. Then stretched a little before starting the tempo. I just wanted a few quicker miles to help the workout go a little faster but not enough to zap my legs as I have a long way to go still in the week. Anyways I took off and held around a 5:40-5:45 pace effort back to the park at the Knolls. Then from there I did a short mile cool down. Pace felt pretty good but I was glad it was only for 4 miles. 

5 EZ miles out in Hurricane with my uncle. The weather was nice. No wind is always a winning number here.  

Bloomington loop. My stomach was jacked from more cookies and pizza. The result was 2 horrible bathroom stops. That's about all I can remember from the run. 

Ran my annual Birthday Challenge run. 31 years old today- every year this gets a little harder:) So my plan was to do this run out on the Little Black Mt loop. I got out there and got running just before 7 a.m. Wanted to finish the workout as a first priority. Up next I wanted to try and hit Tinmanish tempo on the middle 10 and the last goal was to feel strong throughout. 

 I did the first mile as a pre-warmup in (8:26) north of the truck. I saw a badger on this part (way cool to see) I wanted to keep all 3 ten mile loops to themselves.

10 mile warm up in 1:14:58 or 7:31 avg. Just tried to relax and not work or think about the distance during this part. This section seemed to go on forever and was harder than the next two loops combined.

10 mile tempo in 1:03:58 or 6:26 avg. A pretty solid effort here. The whole loop is on dirt roads or trails. You basically climb for the first 5.3 and then gradually drop back around. I hit straight 6 min pace on the flat sections, sub 6 on the downhill and over 6 on the uphill? Anyways I was way happy about the time for a workout done solo.

10 mile cool down in 1:09:21. Felt strong all the way to the finish and never felt a "wall" coming. That is good for a longish distance like this. This loop was the most enjoyable. Just an amazing morning out- slight overcast, no wind, nice smell of the desert in full bloom!

I took note of where I was at the 26.2 mile mark (3:02 and some change). So I missed a sub 3 hour marathon this morning but still got my BQ to keep it respectable. Had a good time and wished my running buddies would have had the day off too to come run.  

Met up with Logan at the DC this afternoon. The high today high today was 87 F so it was fairly warm. We did an out and back down to SunRiver and back in 1:09:07 or 6:56 mile mile pace. Pretty solid with the warm wether and after the run yesterday. The legs had zero soreness and were like the rest of my body just generally tired. But Logan pushed the pace and keep things honest. Other wise I think I would have slacked of. 

A.M. River loop. I was just slow and easy. Didn't have any spunk this morning. But there was no soreness in the legs from last weeks mileage so I'm happy about that and maybe I'll get in a solid tempo run tomorrow. 

P.M. Out and back into B-hills. Wasn't really into the run... at all. Feet felt like anvils hitting the road instead of the light feather feeling that I like to have. Hammy was a touch sore too. I'll have to take some IB's and have Mik'L roll it out with the stick.  

A.M. River loop extended back around the Knolls with Logan. He met up at my house at 6 a.m and we had a very nice morning run. Perfect temps and a beautiful spring, still morning. My legs felt a sleep and didn't want to wake up. Luck for them the plan was to just go EZ. 

P.M. River loop early in the dark and rain. I had planned to do a 8 mile tempo with all the trimings but when I went outside the rain was pounding and it was fairly windy. So I scrapped the tempo plans and just did the normal loop. Legs felt fairly fresh and ready because I didn't run last night. Maybe I'll do it tomorrow morning, maybe not.

8.1 This afternoon on the River loop. Wow the river was full! All winter long we had rain, rain, rain and it never looked as full as it was tonight. I'm guessing the runoff along with the rain the last couple days is to blame. It was a pretty impressive sight as I could see pretty large logs and other junk floating down to Mesquite. Anyways that was the highlight of the run everything else was kind of blah.

Logan came over again early and we did a out and back into B-hills. It looked like the storm could come down on us pretty heavy but it stayed calm... with little to no wind even. So that being the case the run was good. It seemed like longer that 10 mile this morning and my hammy kind of twingled a little around the 7th mile. But then never bothered me again.

Club run tonight from the DC. We ran one mile up to the corner and back while waiting for others to join but no one did. So then Billy, Logan and I did the Bloomington loop with a little added at the end to hit an even 8.5 for the evening. Felt good and hit the last couple at around 6:30 pace and it felt effortless and we were pushing a headwind.

Pushed Myler out and back into B-hills this morning. It was sassy cold at 39F and we had to wait until around 10 before I thought it would be warm enough for the boy. Legs felt better than they have all week but the run was EZ and short. Now I'll chill for the rest of the day and tank up on food.

20 miles down the STG marathon course. Started about 3 miles above Veyo and ended at the church right when you enter town. Then 1 mile cool down. 

First 10 miles in 1:08:55 or 6:53 avg min mile pace. We started with Bill, James, Logan and myself. By Veyo Logan and I were running a little faster than James and Billy boy so we ended up splitting up. We didn't push the pace but ran nice and honest keeping things rolling along. I decided to do a little "mapping" if you will. I measured all the uphill sections from where we started to where we finished. This is basically the meat and potato's of the course. There is a little hill right around the start and I'm guessing it's around .5 from start to crest. But then there isn't anything with any up hill grade past the church to the finish. So the big one's are of course Veyo at 1.05, Dameron isn't as steep but much more pesky at 2.65 miles, Winchester Hill is longer than I ever realize at .90 and then a bunch of other shorter stuff to make a total of 5.65 miles of up hill grade- with the hill in the first mile of the course that is well over 6 miles of up hill and most of it isn't easy 1%. Anyways I'll post this and more on the discussion board we are having about UV and it's comparison to STG.

Second 10 miles I wanted to push the pace but not kill my legs. 57:00 and around 5:43 min mile avg. I felt good and had the best run of the week or since last Fridays 31 miler. I never tried to hammer it but more so just kept a solid, smooth, forward stride rolling along. Nothing to make a movie about but a solid workout for mid April. I should be in ok shape for UV and by Oct I hope to be ready for a good race.

Nice morning out- sunny blue skies with a little tailwind on the first 7 or so and then a little headwind for the remaining 13ish.  

Sick day. Boo. Allergies have been off the hook and ended up causing ears, nose and head cold. So sick of getting sick.

No running again today because of the sickness. So I guess I'm going to get a good taper in for my vacation where I also wont get much running in. So in about two weeks I'll be officially out of shape.

Felt a little better today but still was packin a sore throat, slight temp, and some dizzyness- along with the runny nose and ichy eyes that allergies bring. What a waste of a week. Now I'm just hoping to be healthy before we fly out on Friday morning.

Finally got out for a run this week. When I left the house I was nervous about how it would turn out as I still felt somewhat sick. In the end I made ti through but felt dizzy and then legs said they didn't want to be running. Oh man I sure have blown it on training this week. Guess theres not much I can do about it.

Long day of flying. Got up at 5 a.m (utah) to catch the first flight out of STG to SLC. Then a flight to Atlanta and finally or last flight got us to San Juan, PR at around 9:30 p.m local time.

Can I log any of this as mileage?

10.2 mile run this morning here in San Juan. After a long day of airports and stress yesterday I was happy to get up and enjoy a nice run. There was an article online from Running times about this place http://runningtimes.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=12711 so I ran from the room down there. It is part of old San Juan and a pretty amazing historical site. I love the run but could tell that I've been sick all week and haven't ran. So I was working out the kinks the entire time. Now to relax here for the day before getting on the boat for the next 7 nights. Kind of fun to do some exploring.  

I normally don't run on Sunday but since we are on the boat I was board and really needing a run. Today was the day we were at sea the whole day so I just did laps on the running track. 6 laps is a mile so I did 48... not that fun but a good burn.

Ran in Barbados this morning. I got off the boat at 8 a.m and ran out and back down the shore road. Sometimes I was on the narrow street and sometimes I got down on a nice boardwalk. On the way back my garmin died for good... Sucks with 6 more days of running in other contries. I got dehydrated too. Almost had to walk the last mile. The humidity is deadly.

Saint Lucia day. I ran on the 5th deck as it is only 2.5 lap for a mile then I went out and ran up and down the shore. The humidity is insane and at the end of every run I'm dead. After we took 5 hour van tour of the island. Very beautiful.

Did 20 laps on the 5th deck for 8 miles and then ran the rest inland. It was kind of scarry as I went into a not so good area. For the first time of the trip I didn't feel that safe. Anyways made it back and spent the day on white beaches snorkling.

8.6 on the treadmill and the rest out on the deck. We were trashed and I didn't run  this morning so I had to do it after the day on St. Martin. Had fun! We rented a Jeep and drove all the way around the island and then some.

Did 2 miles on the deck and then up and down the coast here on St. Croix. Last day of the curise... Legs felt sloppy today but still carried a pretty good clip.

We got off the ship today and caught a total of 3 flights home. I was going to get up early and run on the treadmill on the ship before we left but I figured it was already going to be a long, long day. And it was I finally got home and  to bed at 12:30 a.m Sunday morning and then got up at 5 a.m to drive 3 hours to Torrey to get Myler and then turn around and drive the 3 hours back. Ah the trip is finally over. 

Pushed Myler out and back into B-hills. It was a nice (none windy) morning and it really made me happy to be home. I just took it nice and steady while Myler pointed out cool stuff along the way. 

It was nice to not have the insane humidity. I can honestly say I may only have sweat as much on this whole run as I did in one mile of running while in the Caribbean.  

Dropped Myler off at grandmas and then had to go drop Mik'L's truck off at the shuttle location. She comes in late tonight and needed a ride home. Anywho I ran from there over to the DC and then did the Bloomington loop then back around the B-hills run to the house. Legs felt sloppy and form was floppy. I got no sleep last night and that was the main factor as I was just dead and kind if dizzy 3 miles into it. Went to sleep last night at 11 p.m- Myler woke up at 2 a.m and I gave him some milk. Then I laid there for one hour and there was no way I was going to sleep so I got up and went out to work in the yard at 3 a.m. Did that for 2 hours and built the chickens a sweet new home dug down in the ditch bank out of straw bails. It's actually a pretty nice set up. Then I came in and thought about sleeping so I laid down and Myler was crying by 5:30. I gave him another bottle and he stayed in the crib until around 7. So I maybe got 4.5 hours of sleep and I was already jet lagged. Oh I just need like 12 good, solid hours to get caught up. 

B-hills loop this morning. Mik'L got home from PHX late last night and will go to Vegas on Thursday and Saturday. Anyways she was here to watch Myler so I could go do a run. Legs felt like they had clamps on them for the first 6 miles but then I warmed up and enjoyed the last 2 miles. Pretty morning. 

P.M- Pushed Myler around the River loop. It was mildly windy and with the jogger it seemed a little much but we made it through. Legs felt pretty good and I'm guessing I need to do some kind of formal workout with "speed" or effort outside of 7 min pace. But I'm pretty lazy when it comes to that. I'll try hard to hit one this week sometime.  

Out and back into B-hills. I'm running like crap right now and totally not into it. Hopefully I can just keep my head above water and kind of break out of this funk from being sick and being on vacation. Now I'll spend the rest of the week in Vegas and finally come home for good on Sunday. 

9 miles this morning on the treadmill here at the hotel.

8.2 miles on the treadmill this evening.

I wish I was just home but if I have to be in Vegas it's nice to have a free penthouse room with all the room service I can order and my wife is making $$$ on top. Myler and I just kick it around the resort here at Monte Carlo. One more day then we go home Sunday morning.

12.8 miles on the treadmill here in Vegas. I finished off my treadmill running... It seems so hard for me to hold pace and mileage on the machine. All the runs I did down here I set it at a moderate pace between 6 min and 6:40 for the bulk of the mileage. So not easy pace anyways but on the treadmill it seemed extra hard. Now to relax the rest of the day with Myler.

Pushed Myler around the river loop. Mik'L and I are both just wore out from all this traveling the last 3 weeks. I can happily say that I'm home and have no plans to go anywhere for a long time. I've even thought about bailing on the UV marathon just because I don't want to go up there in a few weeks. 

Anyways all that said I just  kind of slugged around the loop today. Tired in all directions. Myler was too and was asleep during most of the run and while I mowed the law after we got home.  

P.M- Did the river loop again. Felt a little better than this morning but that could have just been because I wasn't pushing Myler.  

Logan met me at my house early and we did the River loop with some extras on both sides. Pace was conversational and frankly I couldn't have picked it up if I had to. It was pretty nice out early but it's starting to get windy and the weather says it may rain today. 

Did the B-hills church loop this evening. The first 3 felt like I was pulling a trailer so at the 3 mile mark I decided to pick up the pace to see if that would help me get out of this funk. Hit the next three at around 6:10 pace and it felt as good or better than the first part. Hopefully my legs will come back from vacation soon.  

River loop. I felt a little better this morning than the days prior. Plus the weather was just perfect as the morning just starting. Blue skies and no wind at all. Going to try and stretch good and use the stick more to help bring some mojo back to my life. I'm only planning on doing a short run tonight and it will be slower with my uncle. 

5.4 around the B-hills loop with Don. Pace was nice and easy. Just what the doctor ordered because it felt hot and I needed a little recovery run. When we finished I felt good and refreshed.  

Ran the River loop with Logan this morning. The first 5 or so felt slow and sloppy but I warmed up and the last 3 didn't feel too bad. I can tell I'm getting old because the miles just aren't as easy as they were a couple years ago. 

8.5 with the club tonight. One mile up to the gas station and back and then the Bloomington loop. Nice big group tonight so it made it fun. Pace was conversational and then maybe a little faster the last couple miles. Kind of starting to get hot out as it was 92 F when we started.  

Out and back into B-hills. This was the best run so far this week. Didn't feel trashed, sore or just worn out. Form seemed to be nice and square without much effort and was able to glide through the run. Nothing really fast but able to beat the 7 min guy.  I may do another shorter run this evening or I may just rest up for the big run tomorrow. Hopefully I'll feel good for it. 

My weight was a season low at 151 after the run this morning. Getting really close to where I want to be with that.  

5.4 miles around the B-hills loop this afternoon. It was over 90 f and the wind was just pounding. So the run pretty much sucked. I was planning on just relaxing and slipping a few more in for the day but the wind made me work for every step. In hindsight I wish I would have just bagged it from the start.  

Did the Utah hill run today with a big group. Dave, Logan, Steve, James, Hayden, and Aaron. On the way up we kept a honest pace while battling the uphill (it's a solid 10 mile climb). We ended up beating the 8 min guy on the way up. I didn't have a watch or a garmin so I don't have exact numbers. 

On the way down Hayden and Aaron took off and ended up running like 5:03 pace for the 10 miles down. But we kept them in view and held a great tempo ourselves. Around 6 miles into the tempo Dave went by me and put about a min on me and I thought about just jogging in but still wanted to see what I could do so I just stuck there. He finished the 10 miles in 52:00 and I right around a min behind him. A great time. Way faster than any previous time running this run. Somewhere around 5:18 pace for 10 miles after a 10 mile climb... I'll take it. I didn't look at a watch once for the run and at times felt like I was going pretty slow so I was blown away when we finished to see those numbers. Hopefully it didn't jack me up too bad.  

Did the river loop this morning. It was pretty chilly for May (49F) is really cool. But it actually felt nice and fresh. My legs didn't. They were pretty sore so the pace was slow and I tried to work things out. Even the arch of my feet were a little sore and I had to do toe curls to help the feet work through that. Anyways made it back and finally started to move along by the time I finished. Not as sore as after a marathon but maybe as sore as I've ever been after a workout. 

10 miles this evening. Although the legs are kind of sore this turned out to be a really good run. My form was nsync and working very efficiently. The weather is just amazing with a high of like 75??? It could easily be over a 100 by now so I feel very blessed.  

12.2 miles this morning over to the DC and back with Logan. Cool again and at times I wished I'd had some gloves on. But a beautiful morning with no wind and blue skies. Pace was consistent... meaning we never went too fast but never slacked off either. I'm guessing we owned the 7 min guy by the end of the run. My quads are still pretty sore and by the time we go back to my house we both were ready to be done. Hoping the legs will loosen up as the day rolls out. 

Pushed Myler around the B-hills loop this morning. Another great morning with just super temps. This run was a lot harder than it should have been. My quads are still acting like they all sore and stuff. Plus I'm just generally fatigued. I took last night off from running to try and get some rest. I just didn't sleep good at all Sunday or Monday night and that got me trashed out for the following days. But it's all good and will help me keep the miles down as I really only want around 80 this week... but will most likely hit 90+ still. 

8.1 miles this afternoon around the river loop. It was hot and I really struggled. My quads are even more sore... kind of deep down. So it really messes with the stride making the effort far greater. I was dehydrated too and when I got home my wife said my face looked all grey and sunken in. Blah! I hope for a good nights rest and some good food and drink to get the body back.   

10 miles around B-hills and some extra with Logan this morning. I got crap for sleep last night but this run still was leaps and bounds better than last night. We were sub 7 min pace for the whole run and at times I just wanted to relax but Logan kept pushing it. The morning was beautiful but much warmer than it has been. I had to take the shirt off after one mile and Logan was  sweaty mess. 

10.5 miles tonight with the running club. I went over thinking 8 would be plenty and then Steven said this run would be 9 and I was like ok... and then it turned out to be 10.5 so I was so ready to be done. Pace was conversational but steady. There was a nice breeze that kept it from being too hot which was very nice.  

Got up and the whole family went out. Me running, and Mik'L riding her bike pulling the kid trailer with Myler and the dogs along. We did the basic B-hills loop. It was kind of windy which bothered me running and Mik'l riding. Finished up and then it calmed down... Anyways this will wrap it up for me today as I at the mileage needed and then some. So I'll enjoy the rest of the day and get ready for a 20 miler tomorrow.  

20 miles this morning with the club out at the Little Black Mt. First lap was pretty slow... well really slow as we just chit chatted along to hit 10 miles in 1:20. Then on the second lap we didn't ever really start hammering it but finished in 1:13 (Dave and I). Steve took off with about 5 miles to go then Logan went to get him and eventually James decided to go too. So Dave and I brought up the rear. Good run. I always love running out there and today the temps were fairytale for this time of year.

Met up with Dave, Logan and Kyle early at the running store. Then we drove up above Leeds and ran the dirt road back to STG that drops in above the turkey farm. I took my truck over on turkey farm road at the end of the pavement and then my father-in-law took all of us up to Leeds. We were running by 5:30 and it was just a beautiful morning as the sun came up. This course has LOTS of hills. Maybe 20 hills and a couple of them are over a mile long. So the pace wasn't fast but we kept it honest to the point that Logan puked a couple times. Pretty funny scene implanted in my mind forever:). Anyways a great way to start off a holiday as we were done and back at the truck by 8:20. 

Pushed Myler around the inner B-hills loop. It was hard to get out today. I was so busy yesterday (got up at 4:20 a.m and in bed after 10 p.m). So this morning I was dragging. Once out I wasn't really into it as I mentally counted down the miles until we finished. My legs are a little sore from the long run yesterday. 

I hope to get out again today but will have to see. It's our 9 year anniversary today. So after the busy work day Mik'L and I hope to get out for the evening for at least dinner. Anyways I'm really thankful for such a sweet little lady to spend eternity with. Like I always say she's a Trooper.  

River loop. I was a little sore in the quads through the first 5 miles this morning but they loosened up and I ran fairly well the last 3 miles. It was a nice cooler morning before the day starts to heat up. It will be upper 90's today with temps over 100 coming by Friday or Saturday for the first time in 2010. I'm not ready to deal with it. But on the flipside this has been a cooler spring (windy too) and normally we'd have already seen temps at or over the 100F mark. 

River loop this evening. High of 96F today but when I went out at 6 it didn't feel too bad. There was a comfortable breeze and a slight overcast. At first my legs felt pretty good and within 2 miles I was striding a long fairly quick. But shortly after that the legs turned into 1,000 lb weights. I couldn't get things going to save my life. I could only focus on trying to maintain good form and made my way around the loop.  

Pushed Myler around the River loop. Legs felt pretty good and twas a pretty good run. Picked it up to 5:30 pace for a half mile or so to try and catch a runner up ahead that I thought was Bishop Thompson. But he didn't turn into Jedora and then I realized it wasn't Bishop. 

8.5 miles tonight with the club. It was 96 when I pulled into the parking lot before the run. We started out by running up to the gas station and back to wait for any stragglers. Then went on to run the Bloomington loop. For the first 3-4 miles we kept saying "it sure doesn't feel like it's 96" "it's not bad at all". By the finishing 3 miles it felt like it was over 100 and getting hotter every step. I was so dehydrated by the time  I got back... it was ugly. The pace kept getting faster and faster too. I think we just wanted to get done. I guess summer is finally here.  

River loop this  morning with Paul H. and Logan. We just ran chatty pace and that was perfectly fine with me. I feel trashed and will be taking the rest of the day off from running. It was coolish this morning but is projected to be 100 today so no running this afternoon won't hurt my feelings. 

Didn't run today. The hammy was a little tight on Thurs and Fri so I wanted to give it some time off and try and be fully rested going into the marathon next week. It felt great to sleep in to 8:08 a.m. 

Got up early and ran over to the Flying J and then into Bloomington and back around. I wanted to go longer than regular and a little faster as to kind of work any junk out of my system after not running for the last 2 days. I was a little awkward the first 2 and then settled into around a 6:20-6:40 pace for the rest of the run. It felt pretty good and I hope to do a shorter run tonight with some solid core stuff all week. Looking forward to this weekends race with a scared anticipation.... 

Did the same loop this morning as I did yesterday. Logan joined me and we kept a steady push around. It was warm 77 F so we stopped at all 3 drinking fountains along the way. Nice to get out and watch the morning roll in. I decided not to run last night and won't do any afternoon or evening runs this week. I think running in 100+ degree temps will do more harm than good this close to the race. Mentally I'm not really very tuned in to race so hopefully I can get a little more confident and jazzed as the week continues. 

River loop. Waited until 7:30 and it was already 76 when I left and 87 when I got home. Running is such a fun sport in the summer here in STG. Weight is in the right spot for race week so hopefully the legs and brain will follow along. Busy day with a thousand little things to get done while trying to keep track of Myler.  

Did the middle B-hills loop. 2 mile warm up, 2.5 miles at 5k pace, 2.1 mile cool down. I wanted to see if the legs were still there and give them a little wake up call for Saturday. So I took the warm up nice and slow then really powered through the tempo. I thought durning the warm up that if I was racing a 10k today I think I'd do pretty good. Felt pretty strong through the tempo staying under 5:30 pace. I would have liked to be a little smoother but when running at 5k or faster I don't run smooth... it's more robotic. Then jogged it in and did a solid ab workout. 

T minus two day until the race- here is where my nerves start to get frazzled.  

Around the Knolls and back. A short little run before we head up north. It was cloudy and a little cooler and it felt good. I can tell I'm tapering because everything hurt. I can't wait to have this marathon behind me. I just need a positive outcome under my belt so I can focus on a solid summer of training before STG. 

Wow what a day. Up at 1:40 a.m this morning. I had set the alarm for 3 a.m but Myler thought I needed to get up a little earlier. Finally home in STG at 6:30 p.m. Here's what happened in the middle. 

Dave and I stayed at my uncles in Orem. We left his house at 3:20 a.m to make the rounds and pick up James, Steve H, Walter, and Paul P. Got on the bus at 4 a.m and road up to the start. It was nice up at the start but wet from lots of rain. Had 2 good potty stops and then one more 3 min's before the race stared right off the road before the gun.

I've been running Garmin-less since mine kicked the bucket so I wore my wife's Timex and I failed to get most of the splits. Thats why I like a garmin because it thinks for you....

First 5 miles in 29:03. I'm in like 20th place trying to hold back and just run easy. A big pack went out faster and then there was a smaller second pack of Steve A, Holt, Walter and a couple other guys. I actually was falling off this pack. But my plan was to just run easy until at least the half. No race mode just try and get some muscle memory back.

13 miles in 1:16:52. I'm not sure what the half spit was but guessing like 1:17:20. Up to here I had run just as planned. Didn't worry about the race. Didn't care how far back I was from everyone else. But the legs were just heavy. From mile 6 they got heavy. Never cramped just felt like steel beams. Plus we had rain from the start to about mile 14 or 15. Sometimes heavy pounding rain... but luckily no wind to speak of. 

20 miles in 1:58:37. From the half to mile 20 was a weird section. I caught up to Dave somewhere a long the line and it was good to be working together for a while. I told him my wife was at mile 19 and that if things didn't change I was thinking about DNFing and just getting in a solid 20 mile workout. He jumped on the bandwagon and by 17 announced that "he was done and stopping". I said lets just run to the mouth of the canyon where Mik'L was and then decide. So as we came around the corner out of the canyon I could see the girls and said "what do ya think"? Dave said lets just finish but it's gonna be ugly. I agreed and said we'd be real lucky to even break 2:40 since the "downhill" was done and we were approaching the long straight shot through Provo.

23 miles in 2:16:49. Something changed as we stared running on the flat section. Dave started to pull away from me and I started to feel a little groove. I think at 20 I felt it was safe to finally turn it on and finally start racing. So I started clipping off even 6 min miles when I thought I'd be lucky to hold 6:30's. Along here I pass Steve A. and am settled into a smooth stride for the first time all race. 

24 miles 2:22:52 ran this mile in 6:03 and was tuned into 6 min pace.

25 miels in 2:28:55 ran it in 6:02- Finally catch the "white and blue shirt guy" just before the overpass and he just waves me by without a fight. 

26.2 miles in 2:36:20- Happy to have ran the last 10k in a decent fashion. It seemed it was going to be much worse from early in the race. 

Overall I was really happy with the race. All I wanted was to come up and have a positive running experience and tune out some decent tempo miles. I didn't want to "race" from the gun and try for any money. Just to have something positive to get me going again before a summer of good training. I was please to work through the heavy legs bug and turn out a 6 min avg marathon knowing I've got a lot more to give. It will be really good to start doing more tempo runs once a week or so and that will help as I've been running 7 min pace for about 16 months now. 

It was a great course. I'd love to come back in real race shape to see what could happen. I'll run it again for sure. It was totally fun to have dinner with some friends the night before and see others at the race and stuff. It got me really excited to be out competing again. When's the next race?  

Pushed Myler and the dogs on a short little run here in Little Valley. Legs were sore but runnable. Actually it felt just as good to run as it did to walk. Still I'm not in a rush to hit mileage and am going to give myself a real recovery week with no stress to run anything more than a short little jog.  

Did a family bike ride over into Bloomington Hills and around. I pulled the trailer with Myler and the dogs while Mik'L road her big girl bike along side. Riding the bike was a nice way to work the legs out without the impact of running. I kept changing the gears as to have to keep peddling the entire ride and pushing the legs. Felt ready to be done by the time we got home. 

Didn't get out to Hurricane today but did the inner B-hills loop at 5 p.m and it was HOT. I ran pretty good all things considering. I didn't have a watch but I think the pace was under 7 min. Actually too fast but I kind of got in a groove and wanted to get out of the heat. Legs feel pretty good 3 days after a marathon. 

River loop this morning with Paul H. He agreed to take it easy on me and we just had a nice mellow run around the loop. I had some tummy issues and had to hit the bathroom in B-hill and was glad it was there to hit. I spent most of the run trying to convince Paul that he's a 2:40 marathoner and too get signed up for some races to keep his fitness. Good run and glad that's all for the day- recovery is coming a long but no need to rush it. 

Pushed Myler out and back to the bridge this morning. I just wanted a shorter run to kind of help the legs sharpen up. Then I'll go to club run tonight. Legs are feeling ok, but it's hard to tell pushing the baby jogger. Both hammy's were sore but not (injured) just sore. Got home and worked in the garden for a couple hours. The wind basically destroyed my tomato plants and did a number on everything else too. So I had to prune everything back past the damaged area. 

7.5 miles tonight at running club. We just hit the standard Bloomington loop nice and easy the whole way. Bill told us at the end that we ran a 7:10 avg and I was surprised to see that it was that fast. Had a major bathroom stop at the finish to get rid of all the junk today.  

River loop this morning. It was cool as the sun was coming up. 57 F is a great temp for the middle of June... even though it will be at or close to 100 today. I did  a little extra to try and help a guy with some little dogs at the park. There were some bigger loose dogs out and starting to chase the guy with his little dogs. So I ran over and drove the big dogs away. The right hammy is sore (not my injured one). I need a good overhaul from Mik'L using the stick and foam roller. 

Morning club run out around my old stomping grounds. We left Bill's old house and ran up out of GS to the water tank then down through industrial and around Middleton back to Bill's. On the way back we saw a house on fire (sad). Then the whole group stayed to help Bill move into his new house. With everyone there it was a pretty smooth process and I was home by 11 a.m. 

A.M.

River loop. Legs felt really good. No soreness and actually they kind of wanted to "go". But I resisted the temptation and just ran nice and relaxed until the bathroom at mile 6. There I had to make a pit stop and then kind of picked it up for the rest of the run. Looking forward to kind of ramping back up the mileage this week. Not going to hit anything amazing but somewhere in the 80 mpw range. I've got to go to Park City this weekend (thurs or fri) so I'll try and hit the fist part of the week a little harder to give myself a break on the days while we are up there. 

P.M.

Mik'L got me a new Garmin 405 for fathers day so I finally had a reliable unit to run with again. So that being the case I went out into the fields then back around Stone Cliff to the river trail and in to B-hills then back home. It was a version of a run I did last summer. Highlights of the run was that it was freaking hot. Really hot and thats going to be hard to deal with this summer. Then once I got down to the golf course I was going over to the water to get a drink and I got stung in the had by a wasp, hornet or bee. It came out of no where and drew blood on contact. I think that is the first time I've ever been stung. Ouch! It really hurt. So other than the heat and being stung it was a fun run playing with the new Garmin. Hopefully I can get as many miles with this one as the last one I wore out.  

A.M.

Logan and Steve came over early this morning for a run. We went up by the new airport and around the fields loop. It was a great morning. Temps early have been nice- even cool. Pace was slow and chatty. Nice run to start the day. 

P.M.

I didn't want to brave the heat today so I ran on the treadmill. It was good because I finished watching Valkyrie. A pretty good movie but what a crazy real life story. I just wish the bomb would have got Hitler and all those guys would have not be executed. So my blood was pumping and the time flew while on the machine.  

Started out with the river loop and then at mile 6 I looped back around B-hills and the Knolls to extend the run a little. I slept horrible and woke up feeling dead. So I thought the run was just going to be a bummer. But once out I just worked on form and it wasn't too bad. Still slow with a 7:33 avg but it wasn't as physically hard as I was expecting. After I got home I went and worked on the ditch bank where I'm attempting to level off so I can eventually put a nice chicken coop there. But it was physically harder than expected and now my hands have blisters... and I was wearing gloves. 

4 miles this evening on the treadmill. Just logging some miles. Nothing else really to say.  

Ran this morning with Paul H. We did the same loop out around the fields and Stone Cliff that I did the other day. Another beautiful morning out before a hellishly hot day. We had a great run and even ran into Steven Abraham Lincoln and his barefoot running buddies doing some Webb hill repeats. 

Club run tonight at my house with the lads. We did the middle B-hills loop. It was hot and no one was really into it so the run was shortish. Steve dropped early with some stommy issues. Then the Holt's and I finished up to find him on my front lawn. Then I made the boys work and help me move my new chicken coop around. The sucker is heavy. But now it's pretty well all set up I'll just have to do some fine tuning next week after we get back from Park City. 

Regular River loop this morning. The whole run felt undaunting. I'm dead. Haven't slept much this week- I think it's the full moon. Maybe I'm a werewolf. Anyways just slugged through it. Maybe the only run I do today. We are driving up to Park City this morning for the weekend so I might run tonight up there or I might not. Looking forward to getting out of the heat.  

I did an out and back run from our room north on the Olympic trail. The first 5 miles were downhill and I just tried to relax and enjoy the cool mountain air. I went out at an avg of 7:09 pace. Then on the way back it was all uphill and I decided to make a little game out of it. Try to negative split going back with the uphill climing. Came back in a 6:59 avg. Not anything crazy fast but with the uphill and the elevation it was worth calling it a Tinman effort.

Then after I got done running I did a mutha of a mt bike ride going out and back on the mid mountian trail. It was basically a 4 hour workout ontop of the run. Won't count any mileage as I didn't wear the garmin and don't know how far I actually went. I will say that I was SO trashed when I finally got back to town. I went to Burger King (because I was starving) and ordered like 7 things off the dollar menu and was still hungry. Then road back to the room. Fun ride and I only went over the handle bars 3 times... but none of the wrecks were that serious however I will be super sore tomorrow.

Around Stone Cliff then back around the Knolls. Nice 7:10 avg pace for the run. Felt ok for  a Monday and hope to keep the ball rolling through the week. I'll be out of town for the weekend so I hope to get ahead of the count early in the week so I can relax up in Torrey. 

5 slow miles this evening with my uncle out in Hurricane. It was pretty hot and he's just trying to figure this heat running out. After we finished the weather turned ugly with high winds and a little rain.  

Bigger workout this morning with a biggish group. Steve, James, Logan and Paul showed up at my house at 6 a.m. We did basically the same loop I did  yesterday. Out around the fields and Stone Cliff then down to the Dixie Center then back through B-hills and around the Knolls to the  house. We started off with a slow easy warm up for 3 miles. Then the plan was to do around 6 miles at Tinman tempo (6 min pace). We started off and we were fast from the git go. As we made our way down to the Dixie Center Logan laid down the hammer and I thought he must be feeling antsy. But there was a communication flaw and he only thought we were doing 4 miles of tempo. So just over the bridge by the freeway we called it at 4.1 at an avg of 5:47 pace for that section. Then the guys rolled in running very well collectively and we just cooled down the remainder back to the house. 

Felt pretty good all things considered. I think I'm still a little stale from UV and this morning was pretty hot. 76 F at the start and it just kept getting warmer by the second. I'm kind of glad we ended the tempo at 4 miles because next week we can just add one mile and work our way up. Anyways I guess this officially starts my "real" training up to STG.  

P.M.

Did the River loop at 5 pm. There was some nice cloud cover which made things a little more doable than out in the direct sun. But I was still dead and overheated. But now I'm glad the miles are in the bank and I can relax until the morning.  

Out and back into B-hills. It didn't cool off much last night because of the cloud cover. So it was warm and muggy this morning. I felt like death last night after the run and expected this mornings run to be horrible. It was a little better than that and maybe even just bad. I'm going to spend the day trying to hydrate well. I dropped to under 150lbs this morning. The scale said 149lbs for the first time since the summer of 2008. So good and bad. Good to be down to a faster running weight bad that I'm basically dehydrated to pull it off.  

4 miles this afternoon on the treadmill. It was overcast but then the sun came out and I didn't want to deal with it. My garage was still 97F. I had big fan set up in front of the treadmill and it was blowing what felt like blow dryer heat in my face. Fun stuff.  

Nice easy recovery run around the River loop this morning. I saw Logan at practice with his cross country team but decided to just press on. Legs feel pretty good I'm just dead throughout the rest of the body. The heat is killing me this summer. 

7.5 miles tonight with the club around the Bloomington loop. I felt pretty flat tonight and it didn't help that Dave and Logan wanted to be aggressive on the way back. I just can't get totally hydrated this summer. Once we got back I downed a 32oz gatorade and it didn't even start to quench. Other than that it was a good group tonight and we dropped a lot of sweat and spit on the trail.  

Ran with Paul around the River loop extended this morning. Felt better than I thought I would. Nice morning here before it gets crazy hot. Now I'm off to 7,000 ft and an enjoyable, cooler weekend in Torrey. 

I got sick Friday with an upset stomach and didn't know if I was going to be able to run today. I didn't eat dinner Friday night and no breakfast at all Saturday morning. But I still had a record 7 Big bathrooms before the race. I felt like going over to the start and then deciding wether or not to race. So I got in a 5k warm up and there was a decent number of runners there and the energy talked me into doing it. Two guys went out at like 4:40 pace but it only lasted about a quarter and then I slipped into the lead and quickly had all the breathing room I wanted. I ended up finishing 4-5 min's before the second place guy so there was no pushing. The course was slow. First mile was in 5:29 and maybe a 5:10 effort. The next mile was uphill at 7,000 ft the elevation killed and I hit a 6:08 with an honest 5:25 effort. Then to finish this should have been the fastest mile with the wind finally at our backs and using a slight downhill but I only ran a 5:50 with maybe around a 5:40 effort. I felt dead at the end and almost barfed. The tempo I did earlier this week was as fast or faster with about 50% of the effort. So the time was pretty weak for this race but the effort was much better and despite not feeling too good the night before I actually ran o.k. Cooled down with a couple moreish and called it a day. 

Ended up wining three pair of good running socks and a $25 gift certificate to one of the local burger and shake joints. So it was worth my $10 entry fee. Glad to not worry too much about running today and just chill up here in to cooler air.  

Did the Teasdale loop this morning. Felt like I was dragging and that time was going to be really slow. But I still hit the 8 mile mark at an hour straight so not too bad. The temps were cool and I could have used gloves for the first 5 miles. I'm continually amazed at how out of shape the altitude makes me feel up here. Running is a struggle. I guess I need to move up here for about three weeks to open up the lungs. 

4.1 miles on the treadmill this evening back at home. Had a fun weekend and a nice drive home today. After arrival I built a little deck that overhangs the stream behind our house. So you can sit on it and dangle your feet off into the water. We'll see how well it holds up when the hight water moves in... but for now it's pretty nice. Anyways after that I didn't want to got out and run. The treadmill wasn't too bad either as I just watched the middle section of Funny People with Adam Sandler- the movie is just ok.  

Tempo Tuesday with Logan, Dave and Steven Abraham Lincoln Hooper Pope Abercrombie and Fitch. We started at my house and did the same loop as last week. 3 mile warm up over to Stone Cliff. Then 5 miles at Tinman Tempo- it ended up being a little faster as we hit a 5:49 avg durning the tempo. Felt pretty good until the last mile as we climbed out of the river and into B-hills. The pace felt horribly slow on that mile but we still ran a 6:03. Anyways I'm happy to be getting some workouts into my training. I hate them durning but love having them in the bank. Finished with a 4.6 mile cool down back to the house.  

3.5 miles on the treadmill this afternoon. Didn't feel like doing much but did get on for a half hour. Legs felt pretty good once I got going but I still didn't want to stay on long.  

Started out with a lap around the Knolls and Rustic because I ran into Logan at the park. So we did that lap together then I did the regular River Loop with a short extension by the house. Felt great out this morning with temps @ 66F. That's great for a July morning. 

5.5 miles this evening around the inner B-hills loop. It was 100F out but I soaked my running hat in water and once I got going it wasn't too bad. Finished with a nice gatorade slushy that I made in my new Magic Bullet from Costco. Ice+gatorade power+water and you got a 4 dollar slushy for about 10 cents.  

Started out by doing the first 6 miles of the river loop but then circled back through B-hills and the Knolls to finish. I tried to stay slow and easy the entire run and it worked because I only hit a avg of 7:40. Kind of felt wore out and dehydrated. I'm going to work on getting a nap in today. 

8 miles tonight with the club. Did the Bloominton loop with a little at the end to square it off at 8. Good group out tonight to run with Hayden on his last run before the mission. He's been a good kid and should do great out in the field. It's been fun running with him over the years. As we got on the trail back up to the DC everyone took off and I dropped my keys. So I spent the next two miles trying to reel them in and hit a couple miles at 5:30 pace up to the freeway where we put it into cool down mode. It was kind of fun picking it up and on tired legs it turned out better than I thought it would.  

Same run as yesterday morning. Only today Logan joined me for the first 4.5 before he had to go to practice. It was hot out from the start with the over night low only hitting 80F. But I felt better than yesterday and without working at all went from a 7:40 avg to a 7:30 today. Most likely I'll pack it in for the day and rest up for tomorrow mornings long progressive run. 

Did the southern parkway loop from my house. We started at 5 a.m and it was already 87 F. Sucked! I mean when your running in the darkness of morning and it feels that hot and humid already you know your in for a treat. After a 6 mile warm up we did basically a tinman tempo for 6 miles hitting an avg of 6:04 for that section. Then we rejoined forces to head back and ran at EZ cool down pace for a couple but I had a little mini golf tourney to get to so I picked it up to 6:40 pace for the last 5.5 miles. I was feeling pretty good this morning and the 6:40's on the way back home felt effortless. It was nice to feel good for once. Didn't play as good of golf as I'd have liked and kind of burned out 6 holes into it after it really got HOT. Then we met the wives and kids at the park and had a BBQ at noon on one of the hottest days of the year. The heat sucked but it was still a fun outing the the elders quorum.  

Did the parkway loop with Paul H this morning. We cut in on the road by Flying J and then back home keeping the run shorter than it was on Saturday. Temps this morning were about 10 or so degrees cooler than it was Saturday and that was great. We ran pretty honest hitting an avg of 7:21 for the run and having around 10 miles at or under 7 min pace. I felt great for a Monday and hope to ride that wave all week. Good news is that I'm done for the day. 

Tempo Tuesdays. We did the same loop as the last few weeks only we did 6 miles at tinman tempo. Bill showed up a little late so we got about .2 extra jogging back to pick him up. So on the 3 mile warm up it was already about 90 F and we all could feel it. I knew this was going to be a factor on the tempo. After a potty stop and some quick stretching we were off. We've hit this tempo a little fast the last couple week and agreed to keep it closer to 6 min pace today. So that's what we did and I think ended with around a 5:54 avg. I felt pretty good and much better than last week even with the heat today. The last couple miles of this course make you work for it and I was glad that we were done but still felt very much in control. I can feel a big difference in just 3 weeks of adding tempo workouts. Getting stronger and able to battle the mental struggles much better. 

6.5 mile middle B-hills loop. I went at 4:40 p.m and it was 105 F. Yeah it was hot. I took my two hand held running water bottles filled with ice water and a hat soaked in water. This made it doable. I took a swig every half mile or so but by the time I had a mile and a half left the ice water had totally turned to HOT water. I got through it and in the end it was't too bad- compared to being horsewhipped. 

Looped to the DC and then up the river trail to River road and back home. It was cooler this morning than yesterday and much appreciated. My legs felt kind of flat but not dead. As I was crossing the river by the DC the stake president came riding by on his bike and we said hello. Then one mile up the river trail he was off pushing it. He said he blew a tire right after the DC. Sucks it was going to take him a half hour to push it home. 

4 more miles tonight on the treadmill. It was still 99 F in my garage but cooler than the 106F out in the sun. Ran nice and slow hitting the 4 miles in about 34 min's.  

Did the river loop and had to add a little extra for a potty stop. I felt like death today. Actually last night after the treadmill I felt horrible and it continued thru this morning. I was dizzy and light headed on the run for at least the first 3 miles and then I kind of found some balance. I haven't slept well the last few night and need to get caught up on some rest. Hopefully by tonight I'll feel better or else I'll have to skip the 5k.

Chelsi's Run 5k tonight at 10 p.m.

I drove over at 9 p.m to meet the guys early for a warm up. On the way over it was 104 f and it just felt deathly HOT and humid. I thought there is no way we should be racing. We did just under a 4 mile warm up with a good big group from the club and more then I extended to be even at 4.  

The race details are kind of sketchy. For one my official time. My garmin somehow went out at around 2 miles. When I came across the finish line I looked at the race clock a few seconds after coming in and it said 15:51 but I'm not sure if it was right or wrong either. The only thing I know is that I was about 4 seconds behind Dave. I just updated my time off of Dave's post. He ran a 15:42 so I'm guessing I was around a 15:46.

Race went well for it being so hot. I mean the temp at the start was basically 100 f straight up but the streets seemed to be pumping heat up through our shoes and the air was just think like warm peanut butter. Honestly it wasn't healthy to be racing.

So from the start we went out chasing a 10 year old girl who honestly hit 5 min flat pace for over a quarter mile. It was pretty impressive. Even after we finally caught her she looked back and dug in for another .15 or so. So the first lap (1.55 miles) felt nice and smooth. Logan said we hit the first mile in 5:11.

On the second lap I thought ok lets just really race here and I did ok up until about 2.4 miles into the race but then out of no where the heat just slammed me and I started to really slow down. As we entered the last turn I was only about 3 steps back from Dave and he caught a nice clean turn through the crowds but my line got jammed and I ran into a little girl and had to actually stop then step around her and then get going again. So I lost a little time and momentum there for the finishing stretch. But I don't think I would have caught Dave anyways. He looked pretty solid and was in the zone on the last mile of the race.

So we finished and were just soaked in sweat. The heat was itchingly uncomfortable and I think most of us wanted to vomit. We all did another lap for a mini cool down and then came home at just after 11 p.m.

It was a fun race. My third time running it (every year now). Great to see so many people and non runners out supporting the event.  

I drug myself out of bed at 4:30 a.m this morning after not getting to sleep until about midnight last night after the late 5k. From 9 p.m last night to 7:20 this morning I hung almost 29 miles on the board. Now I'm ready to relax. 

Anywho Logan met me at my house and he ran the first 14.8 with me before he had to get to practice. We ran out into the fields then over by the dog pound in Washington to the River trail and then down around B-hills and to the house. The first 4 miles or so felt like death as both of us had stiff legs (mainly calves) from the race last night. But after the first 40 min's or so we warmed up and things felt pretty good. I took a record two Gu's for a road training run. But I needed it this morning. Last night before getting into bed at 11:30 p.m I weighed 155.0 lbs. This morning I drank 3 gatorades ate 2 Gu's and a banana and after the run I weighed 150.0 lbs. Basically a loss of about 8lbs over night and with the run.

After Logan left I still had a little more than 5 miles to do and thought I'd really struggle but ended up sticking it into a nice 6:40-6:50 gear and went out and back into B-hills to hit the mental mileage goal for the day.

 Now I'll spend the day relaxing when I can while watching Myler.  

Nothing special this morning. I had a stake golf tourney that started at 7:30 a.m and I needed to be there by at least 7:15 so I didn't have much time- and didn't want to get up way early. So I just did a simple DC loop and called it a day. Felt pretty good.  

Same run as I did last Monday with Paul. We met at 5:45 a.m and it was already 82F much warmer than last week when we did it- well about 7 degrees warmer. That proved to be a lot today as the warmth drained both of us rather quick. Pace was slow and we weren't in a hurry so we just milked it on in. I felt decent in the legs and could have pushed the pace harder if needed but there was no need or desire to go fast today. We're in the dog days of summer here in the STG and everyday is around 112 or so. The constant wrath of the heat starts to tax you even when your just sitting inside. I think I may go crazy this year- we decided we need a pool... hopefully we can make it happen. 

Tempo Tuesday. 3 warm up, 7 mile tinman tempo at an avg of 5:57, 6.2 miles of cool down. 

It was another hot morning with a nice big group to start with. We did our warm up and then started the tempo. We passed Summit Athletic Club about 1.5 miles into the tempo and the sign said it was 5:26 a.m and 91 F. I thought to myself this just sucks. The tempo was kind of a roller coaster. I really tried to relax through 4 miles. Then on the 5th I had to work but not as hard as expected. But the 6th was my worst mile as we ran the rollers through B-hills and I hit a 6:08 mile here (everything else was under 6 min's). On the 7th and final mile it's basically a gradual climb too and I thought I'd struggle but was able to focus and hit a 5:58 which really surprised me when I got home as went through the splits.

After we all jogged back to my house and cooled off. Then after the guys took off I did a few more in the Knolls to finish the day.

Another good workout to have in the bank. Every week it gets easier to run tempo pace. The problem is every week we add a mile so I have to gut it out a little more. But I can feel things coming a long and am really excited to see improvements. 

I had to be in Cedar City at 7:30 a.m to pick up 5 new chickens for our flock... so I needed to get up early. I had the alarm set for 4:30 but Myler decided I needed to be up at 4 a.m instead. Running early like that for the second day in a row seemed to help the body get use to it. I just ran the tempo loop in revers. Kept the pace honest and finished in 1:31:10. We'll have to see if I get out again today.

Met Logan and Dave here at my house at 4:50 a.m to do another 7 mile tempo. But in thought leading to the event we decided with the race this weekend maybe we should only do one workout this week. That being the one on Tuesday. So we just ran the tempo loop in revers. It was particularly hard. I had planned on doing 3.5 more or so  to hit 16 for the day but after Logan and Dave left I couldn't get myself to go back out. 

I'm overall fatigued and the legs are pretty crampy. I need to get a nap in today and spend some quality time with the "stick" rubbing out my calves, quads, and hammy area. Hopefully with that and a mini taper I'll be able to cash in on a pretty solid 10k this Saturday.  

So yesterday morning I stepped on a nail. Well not a nail per say but a twig that jammed between my toes in the web of my foot. Then it broke off and left me with the biggest slivers I've ever had. Not to mention the most painful. I walked around on it all day yesterday and finally had Mik'L get the tweezers last night to do some "surgery" to extract it. It was beyond pain... just horrible but she managed to yank it out. 

But today my foot is pretty sore and most likely I'm going to take a full day of rest. One for the foot. Two because I'm trashed and maybe the heat of the summer is getting to me. Three because a little rest should help with a better race tomorrow. So there you have it a big fat ZERO for the day. Unless I get antsy this afternoon and I may do like 4 but it's unlikely.  

3.4 miles on the treadmill this afternoon. I got antsy and had to mow the lawn anyways so I did an EZ pace 30 min's on the machine. After the run and chores were done I soaked in the new swimming hole in the ditch behind my house. Very nice! 

Well after running down here in southern Utah for over 5 years I finally went up to this little race. Most the guys down here have ran it a few times but it never works out for me. Today it did and I'm glad I finally got to eat that breakfast:)

We got in 3 miles of warm up. Steve, Bill, Logan, Scott and myself. Then we got on the bus and road up to the start. I was trying to just be laid back about the race and not get too amped as I sometimes do. Was able to take care of my potty stops and that wasn't ever a issue during the race- so that's already a positive.

Main goal for the race was to go up and try to run a 32:00 ish min race. I thought I could but it would be hard. Ended up exceeding my goal by hitting 31:20 and realized I died on the last or maybe I could have come closer to a 31 flat.  

1. 4:52- Logan and I get out of the hole and just settle into a comfortable pace.

2. 4:59- Now we are just running together trying to cut the tangents just perfect and stay out of the cops exhaust.

3. 5:01- Hit a nice 5k but am getting myself mentally ready for the flat harder part of the course. Logan slides into the lead starts to run strong and I wonder if I can go with  him.

4. 5:13- Still feeling pretty good and starting to pass the walking 5kers. Logan is out in front as we take the turn into town. 

5. 5:18- Dug in on this mile and refused to give up. Wanted to run a 32:00 something and knew I could do it from here.

6. 5:35- This mile climbs up main street. I caught and went by Logan right at the first of this mile but he was just right behind through the finish. I felt like I was slowing down big time... and in hind sight I was. Wish I could have battled this mile better.

.2 slipped to 6:00 pace on the last little stretch as we turned into the park.

I was really happy as we finished. I saw the time and was pleased to have hit the goal. Not the race of a lifetime but a good solid, positive racing experience. That's what I need right now- so I'm happy. It's nice to see some of the training paying off. I know it's not record fast but I think if I'd have ran this race in 2007 I would have been faster today. Now to work on half's and the full. 

I was pretty sore all day yesterday and woke up just as sore or worse. So I wasn't sure I was even going to go on a run. I decided to head out and if at any point it started to feel horrible I'd turn around or walk back. However it felt better running than it does walking around the house (which is the case most of the time with running soreness). So I did the Bloomington loop just smooth and easy. Tried to run with good form and land soft the whole time. No watch so I'm not sure how slow it was but it felt pretty slow.