Clyde's Comeback!

DC loop extended down into Bloomington. Been sick for a week or more and this was the first run since last Friday. Really slugged along for 3-4 miles then started to feel better until mile 5 where I had a major road side potty stop. After that it was pretty smooth sailing back home. 6:46 avg. 62 F made for great running temps this afternoon. 153.5 lbs on the scale after the run. 

A.M-Regular B-hills loop. Felt really good after over a week of feeling horrible. Just relaxed and tried to enjoy running for running sake. EZ 7:06 avg. Hope to stay on top of things and feel good like this the rest of the week. 

Afternoon- I had the time today because Myler was at Mik'L's mom's so it felt like old times. Did some laundry and had lunch followed by a short nap. Then I went out around 2:30 and it was 63 F. Wow that's great running weather! Just kept it honest after a 7:37 warm up mile. Never hit it  real hard but ended with a 6:06 final mile and  finish with a 6:39 avg for the run. Felt so so.

Club run early from my house. 28 F but it kind of felt colder. We saw 3 falling stars during the run. Pace was slowish but consistent. After we got back to my house I looped back around the park to pick up a little more. 

P.M. Picked up another run tonight after Mik'L got home from work. Half in the light and half in the dark. Just hit the DC loop. Kept it simple and tried hard to just maintain good form. 7:02 avg for the run. 

Was going to do a version of the freeway loop this morning but... The city is working on the section right by the freeway (prep for the upcoming race). So they had it blocked off and I had to do a U turn and go back up the Pilot hill. Felt so so this morning and a little rushed to get done before Mik'L had to get to a meeting. So with all that and the hilly course I just lugged out a 7:30 avg for the run. It's ok to take it real EZ sometimes. And with this weeks increased mileage I need more slow days than faster days anyways. 

28 F at 7:15 when I got out running. 

P.M. Out at dusk and hit the middle B-hills loop. Knock on wood but the body is feeling pretty good as everything checked out on the system analysis. Kept it EZ and enjoyed the 7:06 avg run.

Reg B-hills loop. Felt ok but the pace was slow. 7:17 avg. It felt like I might have been going faster but the watch don't lie:)

The city finally got out the new half course and elevation profile. Anyone thinking of running this new meaty course is in for a treat:)

You can click here to view

Big Workout ish with Dave and Logan at the Little Black Mt. Dirt course on roads and trails but a perfect 10 mile loop. It's hilly but not overpowering. We did a warm up lap in 1:13:33 and half of it was in the darkness of the early morning. The first lap felt so so but was fun chatting with the guys. Going into the second lap I really wanted a solid workout because I haven't done anything speed wise to prepare for the half in two weeks. 

Hit the second lap in 58:50 beating my old PR on this course of 1:03 and beating the course record held by Logan of 1:02. Never felt like I was pushing super hard. Just felt in control the whole run. On the 8th mile my tummy started to rumble and the pace started to fall but somehow I got it back and finished strong. I knew Logan was somewhere close behind so that was a little motivation to keep the gas on during the last mile. All three of us ran great and everyone beat the old course record with Logan going 1:00:** and Dave hitting a 1:01:** So a fun run and great morning to do it. A little chilly at 29 F but there was no wind and once the sun came up it felt great out there in the dirt. 

Kicked off the year with a week at 100. Good start I guess. Last year I only had 3 at a 100 or more so I guess only 2 more to go in the next 51 weeks:)

DC loop. 27 F and it felt a little colder. No watch today but I'm sure it was super slow. Couldn't get going. Then after about 5 miles my feet started to hurt/ go to sleep. Sometimes this happens when I'm running like a clutz. The last couple miles seemed a little better but the whole run was sub par. 

7:06 avg. Never felt smooth. Ran in a new pair of Launches and usually right out of the box they are great but today it didn't feel so good. But all of them can't be good ones. 

Inner B-hills loop. Pushed Myler around right at dusk. I kept asking him if he was ok and he kept saying "yeah but I just want to go home". So did I... Run was pretty good for a not so inspired run. 

Early morning club run with Dave, Logan and even Stevie boy showed up. At 5:30 a.m and 25 F even 7:20 pace feels like tempo. But we managed. Once we were warmed up and halfway around the loop things felt pretty good. Kept it smooth but didn't push at all. After the guys finished I went back around the inner B-hills loop and a little extension to square off 16 for the run. 7:24 avg. Felt flat by the end. 

Bigger workout.

It's been long enough since I've tried any threshold miles so today was the day. Did my B-hills/ DC workout. 1 mile, 2 mile. Started off with a 2.5 mile warm up over to south B-hills. It was cold. 29 F but it felt colder. I wondered if I should even try to go hard. But the warm up helped and so I got going. 

5:03- Felt pretty solid and half way through the mile I thought I was flying and was going to hit like 4:45. I'm not sure if I slowed because of that but nonetheless it was a good controlled mile with the form being solid all the way through.

Jogged over to the DC to recover. Stated to have some tummy issues and realized a potty stop was inevitable. It turned into a leafy situation as there are no restrooms or port-a-potties open. Had to change my course up a little from the times I've ran this before. I use to start on the south side of the bridge on the Santa Clara river but with the sharp turn on the new trail I opted to start over as close to I-15 as possible and have a straight shot rather than a 90 degree turn. 

So did the 2- mile set up to River road in 10:31 (5:10, 5:21). Not my fastest time but still good for a cold morning in January. My new goal is to run that second mile in 5:10 without relaxing on the first mile. my PR is 5:16 for the second mile. It has just enough little rollers to really work me and slow things down.

Jogged 4.5 or so miles back into B-hills and around before heading home. Glad to have gotten a workout in.

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DC loop. I'm shivering and trying to type so it'll be short today. 19 F for the over night low. Just when I thought spring was just around the corner it got chilly again. No watch this morning goal was to just run EZ but I'm guessing it was closer to painfully slow. The combo of cold temps and my wife rolled my hamstrings last night equaled nothing to give on the run today. 

Ran from Dave's house. Met up with him, Logan, Steve and Justin. Did a loop down into the fields, past Stone Cliff, over Foremaster and back into Dog Town. Pace wasn't fast but we kept it honest. I stopped for a potty break at mile 10 and forgot to turn the watch back on so I didn't get a avg. Doesn't matter. Just a good run and glad to be done for the week. Dave and Logan extended at the end for another 5 miles or so but I had no desire to run any more. At this point I just want to rest the legs up and have a taper week next week then try to race a good half on Saturday. 

Ran the start of my freeway loop to go check on the new paved trail. So I got to run up through B-hills and out to Brigham Rd. Then on the new trail and a long the mountain and finally down to the river and up to the golf course on the half marathon course. I'm sure I haven't mentioned this before but that course is a bear- it's really gonna suck. Kept the pace honest this morning and felt really good for a Monday. 6:46 avg.

6.1 miles tonight. Started out wide around the schools then just hit the inner B-hills loop. Kept it up tempo and hit 3 or so at tinman tempo. 6:18 avg for the run.

DC loop. No watch. It felt hard but I ran harder than EZ. Felt slow, sore old and ugly this morning. I guess we all get there at some point. 

20 F out felt really cold. I wore big snow boarding mittens to keep the hand warm and my fast and thighs froze. 

153.5 lbs after the run. Weight is about normal.

Club run. 24 F but it felt way warmer than yesterday. No watch but pace was so so. Not hard and not way slow. Just a special morning to be out with the lads. 

Middle B-hills loop out in the darkness alone this morning. 29 F and not as cold as it was yesterday. Looks like we may keep some cloud cover the next couple days and help with keeping the race to not be really cold on Saturday morning. We'll see what happens- it could also rain. Felt kind of sort of today. Legs didn't feel like they are ready to race on Saturday but then they never do. I had a can of chili for lunch yesterday and then 3 whoppers at BK for dinner. I paid a hefty price out running this morning with a sour stomach and potty stops.  

2.4 miles mid morning with Jen while pushing Myler. Did the park loop nice and EZ. She rocked it and is doing great.

30 F. Inner B-hills loop. Tried to keep it smooth and EZ. Ended up catching and passing the 7 min guy to finish with a 6:58 avg.  Didn't feel anything super today and glad it wasn't the race. Hope I wake up tomorrow feeling like a stick of dynamite. But hopefully I don't blow up too soon:) 

Well a so so race today. Not a bummer but not a Thriller either. If you would have told me last night that I'd run a 1:13:19 and run a faster race today than last year I would have taken it. But now after the fact I feel like I left a little or lost a little out there. Oh well. A solid workout and start to the year. Because the course was different (more hilly) than last year I had no time goal. I also had no place goal. So what goals did I have... to just run a solid race and be able to feel like it was faster than last year. Mission accomplished...So that's good. 

Started out strong and through mile 3 we (Dave an I) were still only 10-15 seconds back from Fritz. As we finished off mile 4 I started to feel labored as we started climbing. My wife shuttled around the course and saw me 3-4 times during the race and she said I looked labored and not my usual smoother stride. About there Dave started to gap me and by mile 5 BJ caught me and gaped me too. Oh well just run your own race. My wife gave me a drink at like 6.6 and I took one drink and it went down. On the second drink I barfed everything back out. Now I only had one more drink in the bottle and I needed the entire thing to push me through the race. To that point I ran the hills as good or better than planned. Then at roughly the 8th mile my left quad flexed tight and never loosened up. It was like rock solid. I did ok through 9-11 and my goal the entire race was to really pound from 11 to the finish. Because that was the fastest and most runnable part of the course. Sadly I slowed down on the finishing miles and couldn't muster anything faster than 5:45 pace. Got passed by Steve Summsion at around 11.6 and made no effort to go with him. Quad was so tight and I was basically finished racing. Just finished it off in a pathetic fashion and it bothers me. AND last year when I finished I felt great ( like I could have flipped it and ran another half at around equal effort). But today I was done! Guess I need some more tempo and interval type training... Ugh! I hate em'.

So my regret of the race is not being able to finish strong. Even if I do a little better on the last 2 miles I don't get passed by Steve and I close the gap on Dave. But it just wouldn't happen. My quads have become a big problem. My calves don't get tight or sore anymore but my quads just die. At UV they were the death of me -crashing harder than ever before. Need to find away to fix that problem... sooner than later.

Shout out to Fritz for running a super sub 1:10 time and a much harder course than last year. And to Dave for hitting a 1:12:30 or so. Good job!

Oh yeah it was 39 F when I left the house and lots of rain. So warmer than it has been but  very wet. However course conditions weren't too bad. The rain kind of died off for most of the run with just a little wind on the last 3 miles. After the race it started raining hard again.

4.6 mile warm up with Dave and Dustin.

2 mile cool down

DC loop. Overall I felt good and really good considering the race on Saturday. But my left quad is damaged. I won't use the word injured because I don't want to be injured but there is something not right. It was tight from the git go today and around mile 5 I just wanted to stop. But kept creeping along. Then by the last mile it loosened up a little and I was able to kind of run free. Looking forward to a good roll out with the stick tonight. It will hurt. 

DC loop in reverse then a little extension in Little Valley at the end. 7:06 avg. Overall felt a little better than yesterday and just relaxed. Thought the pace was actually a lot slower during the run. Left quad is still super sore. Tried to roll it out with the stick and it's just too tender to put any pressure on. So it will be a few days before I can actually dig into it. 

Trying to put together some race plans for the spring and summer. Looking at maybe doing the LA marathon in March and then San Diego in June. Plans aren't final yet but nothing else really works in that time frame. I'd like a couple mostly flat and sea level races to see what I can do. Would love to break 2:30 again. 

Club run early here. 30 F out but it was humid and I felt cold most of the run. Pace was slow as we just chit chatted around the loop. Starting to see lots of runners out in the dark morning hours. I ate some salsa last night that was basically ready to explode by the time I got home. 

No watch but pace was up tempo. DC loop in reverse but back down the inner river trail from River Road and back into B-hills then up by STG golf course club house and home that way. It was a beautiful spring (end of January) morning. Made it worth getting up and getting out just to see the morning. 

6.6 miles on the middle B-hills loop tonight in the dark. 7:06 avg. Felt like it might be faster but I never pushed it. Just smooth and EZ. 

By far one of the worst runs I've had in over a year. Just had nothing. Went to the well this morning and it was dry. So I tried to dig a new well and it was character building to say the least. Got to the DC at 6.01 miles and was TRASHED! Had planned on going 14-15 miles but decided to cut it off. By River Road (8 miles) I mentally had to put one foot in front of the other. And it just got worse. No stomach issues on leg cramps. Just ZERO energy. Lots of neural fatigue for sure. 

7:22 avg and it felt way slower. 

Ran from Logan's house ALL the way out in Riding Dirty Town. Out and back on the parkway into town and down to Vernon Worthen park. Potty break there and then back. Dave and I extended at the end to get to 20 but we were so trashed and out of it that we went too far. We were all pretty trashed this morning and pace was super slow for a long run on the roads. It wasn't pretty or EZ but we got er done. 2:32:10 for the 20.5 miles

DC loop. No watch but mostly slow and EZ. Didn't want to run this morning at all. Once I was out my opinion didn't change much as I drug myself around the loop. Kind of soreish and achy. Not the best start to the week but better than if I'd have stayed home. 

3.6 miles on the treadmill tonight. Mik'L had a late meeting and I felt the need to run again. So I jumped on the machine and let Myler ride his bike in the garage next to me. He got sick of it even faster than I did.

I've felt like a paper weight the last few days and not even as useful. Just super fatigued. Like dead. I told Mik'L to just let me die and not waste a bunch of money on medical bills. Anyways she took Myler to grandmas today so I ran around 11 a.m. Nice to go out and not be freezing. Still felt pathetic and sloppy. Just tried to keep the form square and ended up feeling better out running than I have felt at home. Not to say I felt great but ended up with a 6:57 avg and before the run I'd have guessed catching the 8 min guy wouldn't happen. 

Came home and made a big lunch of 4 eggs, with cheese. 1 avocado, chips and salsa, 3 bacon strips, 1 sausage patty, 4 slices of toast, juice straight from the carton and a imported Areo chocolate bar from England at the end. Then I tried to nap but couldn't so now I'm blogging.

Club run early here at my house. Billy boy even joined us. No watch but pace wasn't very fast. Not supposed to be when it's this early and cold. With lots of spitting and moaning we all made it back. 

I'm in a totally different place than 3 weeks ago. Then I was feeling great and looking to really hammer the spring. Now I'm totally trashed, my sports hernia hurts worse than it's ever done before and for the most part I just ache thinking about running. Hopefully this will pass. But because of the present situation I haven't registered for LA and am having second thoughts about doing a marathon this spring. Because as of today- there would be no way I'd be running anything close to 2:30. 

Same run as Tuesday. Around the park back up River road then down the secret street over by the GC and round B-hills. Then up the trail to River road back down to the DC and back around home via the park again. Wanted to keep it  uptempo and try and shake out the system a little. Hit a couple miles at around 5:55 from River Road down to the DC but for the most part just "uptempo". Ended with a 6:36 avg for the run hitting the 14.3 miles in 1:34:32 beating Tuesdays time of 1:39:25. Didn't feel good, but felt like I could do it. Groin pain as related to the hernia was pretty bad at the start maybe 7 out of 10. Just found a way to run with the pain as it's still here after the run. Guess I'll make do with whatever I can and hopefully this never sidelines me... but I'm too cheap and hate the medical field too much to go get it checked out. Anyways glad to get the run in and was surprised to see the avg as low as it was. 

6:57 avg. DC loop extended back down into B-hills and home via the secret road. Hernia hurt pretty bad the first 1.5 or so but by the end I wasn't thinking about it. Tried to keep it honest but not overdue things. Actually a really nice morning. Cool at 28F but calm and clear as the sun came up. 

5 more miles this morning after Mik'L went to work. Pushed Myler out and back into B-hills. It was less than thrilling for sure. That extra 5 miles I've been fighting all week... just had to finally get out and get it done so I'm caught up for my weeks goal. Should have just did a few more Wed and Thurs night. 

Dog Town half course. Started out running from my house over to the park where the race finishes. Got there a little early so I looped around a little more before everyone else showed. Hit 3.4 miles before we drove up. I didn't save these miles so I'm not sure on their pace but I'm guessing pretty slow as I felt really crusty early on this morning. 

16.7 miles from the start of the half course up in Coral Canyon down the course then extended at the end around that neighborhood and back to my house. 6:40 avg on this section. Ran with Stephen, Billy, Dustin and Scott at the start. There was about 25 total runners. Once we got down in the Hell's hole canyon Steve wanted to do a 5 or so mile tempo. I didn't have any goals at all for pace and so I just stayed by Steve over to Washington Dam road. We hit around 6:00 pace for a couple then once on the Dam road I picked it up a little and hit 5:30ish pace for a couple. Then I backed off going up the hill in the fields and Steve caught back up. We just ran smooth and EZ from there until Majestic Dr. and there's a big steep hill there. Steve's hammy started to tighten and we really slowed down for a couple miles or so over past the farm. I knew I had to get going so I finally told Steve that I was going to pick it up and finish off the run. Finished off from there back home at around 6:15 pace. Felt pretty good for the last 10 miles. The first 10 I was super tight and the groin pain was at around a 7 again. 

Glad to finish the week off strong. Could have bagged it around Tues or Wed's when the pain and fatigue really started to creep in. But I just kept pressing on... hopefully these lyrics are true:" N-n-now that- that don't kill you can only make you stronger".

Secret Roads/ DC loop. No watch this morning but I wish I would have had one to see just how slow I was going. The run seemed to drag on and on. No sense of control over my stride... just flapping along in a sloppy manner. Hernia and groin pain felt a little better than last week and I'll call it around a 5 out of 10. But pace was super EZ. We'll have to see how it goes but I'd like to hit around 100 this week. That would look pretty good on paper:)

6.6 miles around the B-hills loop pushing Myler just before dark. Not a bad little run. Just tried to keep it smooth and not overdue things while pushing the boy. He sang songs almost the entire run. Jon Jacob Jinglehime Smith, This old man, Twinkle Twinkle, and a bunch of stuff that was straight freestylin. Like seeing a blue truck and then a dog and making up songs about everything as we passed. So this kept things interesting and as we finished off the run mommy pulled into the cul de sac right along side us.

Tinman tempo- 6:13 avg for the run hitting the loop in 1:17:13. No real warm up or cool down so I was going pretty good right out of the hole. Hernia and groin pain were up to around a 6 but after the first half mile it only felt like around a 2.5 and made it manageable.  Hit the first mile at around 7 min then progressively worked the pace up. Went 5:40ish up the river trail from B-hills and back down the river trail to the DC. Then kept it real honest back through B-hills to Brigham Rd. From there back home around the park to home dropped it down to around 5:40 again. 

Good solid push with lots of spitting:) Pain never climbed but the discomfort and effects on my core are very noticeable during the duration of a tempo run. But I do feel much better than last week. 

6.6 miles again this evening pushing Myler in the jogger. Hit the B-hills loop again. No issues no super miracles either... just a run. Groin hurt lower and on the inner thigh tonight at around a 5 out of 10.

DC loop with Dave and Logan. Groin and hernia pain up over a 7 at the start. It mellowed out but never felt good the entire run. Felt my age this morning for sure. Sad because there was some overcast and temps were warmer at around 42 F. But as always there was interesting food for thought in the mornings conversation so I'm calling the run a success. After the loop with the guys I went back around the park to grab a couple more... felt even worse than the earlier miles. Going to take 4 IB's today and hope for the best. 

5 miles pushing Myler out and back into B-hills. When I left the house I was thinking about doing the normal 6.6 mile B-hills loop but started to die about 2 miles in. By the time I got 2.5 out I thought I was going to faint. Stopped for a few to let the dizziness roll past and then slowly made my way back home. By the last mile I felt semi better or at least past the crazy part. Not sure what was up. Groin pain at a constant 5 for the run. 

Groin and hernia pain only at around a 2.5 this morning right from the start. The best it's been in a couple weeks. Not much in the legs though. But a good morning to go out for a run. No watch. 

Secret street/ DC loop. Hernia/ Groin pain was only at around a 2 at the start. The best it's been. But increased in pain as the run went on... only to around a 3 but that's the first time it's gotten worse while running. However I'm not sure what will happen at race pace. Beautiful spring like morning. The last two days have been 68 and 69 degrees respectively. Today should be more of the same. 

I didn't get anything set up with the guys yesterday so just got up and ran solo this morning. Did 5 miles from my house over to the River trail by B-hills. Then hit the 10 mile DC/ Bloomington club run loop. Then the same 5 miles back home. It was a super morning for a run. I had the alarm set for 4:30 but woke at 3:45 so I was basically out running by 4:30. 40 F, calm and a nice moonlight to run in. I felt pretty good too. Groin/hernia pain was only down around a 2 and felt very runnable. I didn't have any tempo or workout plans. Rather just warmed up with a 7:50, 7:20, 7:15 and then kind of stuck it in 6:30 gear the rest of the run give or take. Ended with a 6:48 avg for the run. Just felt good today. Granted the pace wasn't hard but in general I had some positive mojo and a glass half full attitude. Glad I got up for this one. 

13.5 in 1:33:30 or a 6:55 avg. Not bad for a Monday. I think my hernia/ groin pain is sitting constant at around a 2 and basically what it was before the big flare up two weeks ago. That's very good news for me. Sad it's not gone completely but at this level I can run through the discomfort and live a semi normal life. So I'll keep monitoring it and see how things go. Glen Tucker (Littlebadlegs on the blog) told me some very useful information. That he had a similar pain and symptoms and found out it was linked to having tight hammies. That could very well be the case with me as my hammies have been tight for years. Sounds funner to work with than surgery in my stomach. 

Anyways the run was just so so. Out around the park the long way then over to the freeway and around the DC home through B-hill and the secret street. 38 F and kind of foggy with a chance of rain. I'm going to plant peas, broccoli and other cooler temps veggies today in the garden. 

Bigger workout: 14 miles at a 6:11 avg. Hit the first mile in 7:22 then Tinman tempoed the next 10 miles to hit 11 total in 1:06:40- So around 59:20 for the 10 mile tempo section (5:55 avg). Then three miles back home slower but not at dead cool down pace. 

Started out heading straight out to the freeway then down into Bloomington onto the trail at Man-o-war bridge. Up the river trail all the way to River road then back down the inner river trail all the way down to where it climbs the steep section by the cliff. There I ended the tempo. Then the 3 miles back were through B-hills and back out to River Road. 

Kept it cool and loose trying to hold a pace that I could keep for 3+ hours. Every time I would get going down around 5:45 I'd loosen up and slow down a little. Ran all the uphill sections EZ and really only pushed the last mile just because it was the last mile so I hit a 5:35. Then because the legs were already "moving" the cool down miles were all sub 6:30. Felt ok but not super. Groin pain is stable but it sucks not being able to do any sit ups or core work. Could really feel it around the 8th tempo mile. Feel flabby in the mid section.

Normal club morning run from my house with the lads. No watch but we kept it honest. I felt pretty good all morning in the legs and the groin. Did have some pretty good stomach pressure which finally needed a porta potty stop. 

Tacked on another park loop at the end. 

A.M. Ran the DC/ Secret street loop early. Lots of fog. It was kind of cool because you don't see that in STG very often. It rained hard most the night and the temp said 35 F but it felt much cooler. Chilly to the bone kind of reminded me of living over in England. Calves are pretty tight from Tuesdays little temp. I wore some lower profile shoes and it's apparent I'm not used to that kind of platform. No watch just kind of drug it around today. 

Noon: 7.7 miles around the middle B-hills loop then a little extension around Little Valley on the way in. 6:52 avg. Didn't feel like I had the Sprite in me on this one... maybe I should go get a Coke.

DC loop. Felt really achy and the groin pain was back up around a 4. Just did the basics this morning before driving down to LA to take the little family to Disneyland for the weekend.

Loops around a 2 mile block here in Anaheim. Just a little business before heading to the beach and other festivities.

Woke up and didn't want to run on the concrete and traffic of Anaheim. So I just got the family going and we left fairly early... 9:30 Utah time 8:30 California time. Drove home and got basically to our house in 6 hours flat. But we did stop 2 times. Once in Victorville for gas and then again in Vegas to go potty and have a In and Out burger for lunch. Didn't feel like running when we got home but forced myself to get out. DC loop with the Secret street and a little by the golf course. Didn't feel bad but didn't feel great. Really choppy and not in sync. I feel like I'm running ok right now and if I could just get the body to overcome a couple issues I might be able to turn ok into good or great. IF....

Another DC loop starting on the Secret street. No watch this morning but kept it honest the whole way. Form even felt fairly good. A little too frosty this morning for me. 29 F and I had to bring the tights back out. For a second I thought we were done with that for the year. 

Club run here around the DC loop. A comfortable 35 F this morning made for some cozy running conditions. No watch but we held a solid pace throughout. Nothing exciting to report. Just a good run with the lads. 

Regular B-hills loop. I had wanted to get out yesterday afternoon but had some serious stomach issues and they weren't all gone this morning. Had to be careful the entire run and kind of baby things. Hoping to feel better in the coming days. Felt okish with everything else. Groin was a 3.5 and hurt in the lower abs. And to top it all off on my left forefoot in a area of tough hard skin... it cracked in two places. Deep cracks that hurt like a blister. Awesome. 

6.7 miles tonight. Felt good in the legs and the pace seemed uptempo although I didn't have a watch to verify. Stomach was a little better than the last couple days but I did have to stop for a potty break at the golf course. Hope to mellow out by Saturday. 

DC loop this morning. 32 F but warming as the sun came up. Stomach finally started to feel settled but the legs felt like steal beams. The last 3 miles seemed to drag on forever. The half tomorrow could be a scary outing for old Superfly...

4.5 warm up with the guys. Then added a little over .5 to sneak a quick potty. Warm up ended up being a little longer than I originally wanted but in the end maybe just right:)

My watch didn't save any of my splits or total time (this new timex gps is kind of turning out to be a bust). My splits through miles 1-6 are basically identical to Dave's.

5:14, 5:18, 5:22, 5:16, 5:27, 5:36

I felt pretty smooth in these first 6 miles. In the warm up the groin was pretty tight but I never felt it through the race- after the race it hurt like &%$ and was super tight. Had great weather (which for me seems rare).  

Then between miles 6-10 I lost 22 seconds on Dave and from 10 to the finish I really struggled. Starting with the big hill up Majestic Rd. But even if I'd have just finished without slowing down I wasn't catching Dave as he finished like a champ today. I could tell by the way he was running down Washington Dam road at mile 8 that he was "feeling" it today.

Wish I had the closing spits to see how pathetic they really were- or maybe not that bad. Guess I'll never know. I know once I hit the big hill the gears just wouldn't flow and I was hitting like 6:50 pace up that sucker and never got going. 

Overall I'm ok about the race. Held it together about 2.5 miles longer than at STG half (there I died at mile 8). So I'm making some progress and I really hate half marathon pace. Hoping it will just be a good workout and stepping stone to help put together one good marathon this year. I just want one more good one- then I can walk away happy.

Hit 2.7 miles for the cool down over to where Mik'L parked the car by the fields church. I felt pretty trashed and moaned out loud a lot during these miles. Just getting old-

Felt really good for a Monday. Really couldn't feel much of the race in my legs at all. No watch but kept the pace honest although the run did seem to take forever. Very comfy temps at around 36 F. Looks like it could snow tomorrow?

Hard night here at the Behunin house. I went to bed with a cough and decided to take some Nyquil to help stop any sickness from even attempting to start. It basically knocked me out. But around 3 a.m Myler woke up screaming  and had vomited in his bed. That was fun to clean up. Then for the rest of the night he was up and down with a upset tummy. I on the other had could hardly function because of the Nyquil in my system. So I wrote off running today about 6 times before the sun came up. But then I finally woke and decided to get out and try a few miles at least. I always run like crap the morning after having medicine in my system. Today was no different. Really struggled to get anything going and I think I felt a little more sore today from Saturdays race than I was yesterday. 

8.25 miles on some of the B-hills loop. Totally rushed and sickish run. Left the temple with 1:40 to get home, change into running cloths, run 8 ish miles, shower and get back into church attire and be at young mens. Got home and changed fast- hit up the potty before I left and got out running. Kept it uptempo to Tinman tempo all run. About 3 miles in I had to hit the golf course potty then less than a mile later had to go again at the park in B-hills. These were really, really, bad.... like horrible stops. Got done with the second stop and still had to get home. Didn't factor in ANY stops in my time frame. Had to really push the last 3 miles to get home... and another potty before showering. But I made it. Felt horrible. Not sure if I'm sick from something Myler has or if the guoccomole I made at lunch had too much of a KICK.

Early club run here with the Circle of Trust and Billy. Kept the pace EZ and the chit chatting hard. 32 F out on a semi frosty morning but it didn't feel that bad. After the 10 with the guys I did a little extension in Little Valley to add a few more. Felt ok this morning but not great and was ready to be done at around 13 miles. 

So so run this morning. Did a lot of stretching last night and had Mik'L roll my hammies out. So this morning the legs kind of felt noodlely. No watch so the run seemed to drag on forever- but in reality I'm guessing it was 7 min avg or faster. I'm ready for some REAL warmer weather. Not HOT just warm nice spring days. Green grass, flowers, veggie garden, trees blooming and leaves growing... ready for it all. 

6.6 miles tonight around the B-hills loop. Felt great. Smooth, fast and efficient. I like runs like this. No watch too so I just enjoyed running. 

DC loop with the secret street at the end. Got kind of sick last night (head cold). I've been pretty good all winter and impressed with how long it's been since my last sickness. But it's going around and hitting our house. So kind of felt groggy through the run. Not as smooth as last night for sure. 36 F this morning. 

Fun day with the Circle of Trust running the relay. Aaron Metler joined our team so we ran the 5 member team relay with 4 people. The race was a little longer (just over a mile) this year than last but we still wanted to break the course record of 5:05:00. Leg order went Logan, Aaron, Aaron, Clyde, Logan, Dave, Clyde, Logan, Clyde and Dave. 

So I ran legs 4 (5.2 miles), 7 (4.4 miles) and 9 (4.2 miles). Logan and Aaron both took it out hard and by the time I got the "go" at leg 4 we had a massive led and were running at around a 5:15 avg through about 17 miles. 

Leg 4 for me started at the softball fields out by Entrada and ran a long the parkway to Paradise Canyon then hit the trail down to Green Valley and ended at Tonoquint park. First mile is rolling. The next 3 are a gradual downhill and the last mile is basically flat. So a good leg. Since I was running 3 legs I really didn't want to pound this leg. Finished with a 5:25 avg for the 5.2 miles. Felt really good throughout and just tried to save something for the next legs.

Leg 7- runs from the river bridge on River road out past Stone Cliff, then up to Staihli farm and then down the fields road to the hand off point. Not a hard leg but not a EZ smoking fast one either. Gradual climb for the first 3.5 or so then around .7 downhill and .2 up or so at then very end.  Tried to stay smooth and not kill myself off but got a killer side ache the last mile or so. It seemed to make everything else hurt. 5:39 avg for the 4.4 miles.

Leg 9- This leg sucks or did suck. I was stiff and not into it while waiting for Logan to run Leg 8. That 25-30 min off just was too much or not enough. Nonetheless I wasn't feeling it. AND this is the hardest leg mile for mile than any other leg on the course. 3.6 miles of dirt roads on some big, up hills and some sandy areas. The leg rocked my world. The first mile hits the biggest climb and from memory I ran this mile in 6:24. Then the next mile is up and down on rolling hills and I ran a 6:22. The third mile is about .6 down and .4 flat. but has the sandy section. I ran it in 5:50. My watch wigged out after that so I don't have the overall avg or 4th mile time. It's flatish and at the end of the leg there's about a .4 mile climb. I'm guessing the 4th mile was around 6:10 pace and the climb was very slow. I was dead when I tagged Dave.

Nothing really impressive about my legs. But for the most part I just wanted to do this to chill with the guys and get a good solid workout in. I love relays for that reason. You just can't get anything like a relay in "workout" settings.

We ended setting a new course record at 4:50:00 and running an official 5:31 avg for the entire 52 or whatever miles. Everyone ran great to do that. This course isn't hard like a Wasatch course but it's not EZ like a Del Sol course. Very runnable and faster on the first 30 miles then it starts to climb and gets a little hairy the last few legs. With legs 8, 9 and 10 having a lot of gravel roads with big hills.

It was a fun day. I went into it with a head cold and a slight fever. Now (Sunday) I'm full blown sick. I was almost positive this would happen after a relay day. But it was worth it as long as I can get some miles in on Monday and have a good coming week.

7.1 miles this morning. Still felt pretty sick. Running with a fever isn't too fun. Started getting really dizzy about 1.3 miles into it. Symptoms seemed to mellow by the end of the run. Got a lot of little issues I need to resolve in the next two weeks. Get over this sickness. Minimize the pain the the groin as much as possible. And get rid of a new pain in my side up under the ribs. This is from a side ache I got in the relay on Saturday. Anytime I get one and continue to run hard it makes the pain last a few days. I think the continued running at pace must bruise the diaphragm or something. Anyways I need to heal it up before the Modesto Marathon in a couple weeks. 

8.6- B-hills loop this evening with a little added on on the secret street. Didn't feel too bad. Sickness had improved. Groin pain still around a 4. Side ache pain at around a 5. 

6:54 avg. Did a figure 8 around the river and Little Valley. Groin pain around a 4.5 and really sore on the inner thigh on right leg. Side ache pain down to around a 2.5. I'm a project. 

4 miles tonight. Out and back over past the park to the bridge. Pounding winds made this an interesting run. When it was at my face I was like running in slow motion. When it was at my back my lazy 7:20 effort turned into 6:00 pace. But it was a nice cool down recovery run at 8 p.m after a blistering game of dodge ball with the young men. 

Club run early here at the house. Pace was EZ and slow going. Good thing because I couldn't have gone much... actually any faster. 38 f when we left the house. Did the normal DC loop with the brethren and then 4 more alone after we finished. On my last mile back to the house it snowed on me. Snow in March in STG... and yesterday's high was 74 F. 

Big Workout

6:23 avg for the 20.3 miles. Ran the first 5 miles from here around the park and B-hills to the club TEN mile loop on the river. Then starting at the trail I picked up the effort to Tinman pace for the 10 mile loop. Then once I finished the loop I was going to head back home the way I'd come but decided to just re-loop the inner trail around the DC and head home that way via River Road. So I kept the "tempo" rolling through 13 miles instead of 10. Hit a 5:59 avg for the 13 mile tempo and it felt really good. Actually took a few miles to get going but then I ran smooth and never got close to the red line. 

splits

5 mile warm up- 8:01, 7:16, 7:06, 7:14, 7:06

13 mile temp- 6:29, 6:03, 6:11, 6:04, 6:13, 5:54, 5:36, 5:52, 5:42, 6:03, 5:54, 5:54, 5:51

2 mile cool down- 6:36, 6:31

Basically all and more than I wanted on a pretty low key effort. Felt as pain free as I have all week. Groin and hernia pain was minimal. Hammy felt great. I did battle a slight side ache for most of the tempo and had to work on breathing to keep it at bay. And the biggest pain was my shoulder, arm, back and lat being sore from playing dodgeball with the young men on Tuesday night.

Anyways pleased with the run, and more pleased I didn't have to dig too deep to get through it. Now I've got 10 days to heal up all my little aches and pains before letting it all out at the Modesto marathon. Hoping for a nice taper:)

B-hills loop and extended on secret street and potty stop. Legs felt ok this morning. No soreness at all from yesterday. Just a little lazy and heavy. About like a Monday run. 31 F this morning. It scared me... I planted a bunch of flowers and was worried they'd all freeze and die. But the frost wasn't that bad. Happy Birthday to our little boy Myler. 3 years old today. Like all parents- I can't believe it's gone by so fast. 

10.2 miles this morning on the DC loop. I had family here at our house and we had a early T'time to golf so just ran solo this morning. Nothing fancy just a run to keep the legs and body N'sync. 

3 miles. Didn't count this as mileage but walked 9 holes at SunRiver on the back today golfing. Played really good too. A couple eagle puts, good drives and I chipped one in from off the green to save a par on a par 3. Perfect weather at 69 F. I love this time of year.

6.6 miles tonight pushing Myler in the jogger around the B-hills loop. Shorts and a tank as the temp was now 74 F in the afternoon sun. Just laxi taxi around the loop with my boy. Luv that little guy.

B-hills loop. 46 F out this morning and felt warm by the end. Legs felt Mondayish. Groin and upper right thigh were at around a 3 this morning. I didn't stretch yesterday and should have. Need to stay on top of it this week for sure. 

7 more miles @ noon. I thought I'd waited long enough to go back out for a second run after breakfast and taking pills.... Nope. About 3 miles into the run my Omega 3 pill (fish oil) started to breakdown about halfway down my throat. This is one of the grossest things (that I've let happen multiple times) in my life. Every breath and burp tastes and smells like rotting fish. At first I fought off the gag reflex but with less than 2 miles to go I just wanted to barf... get it out! Stopped and dry heaved three times but nothing came up. Finally finished the run and could barely muster another breath- an awful, awful outing on what was going to be a super spring day run with no shirt. 76 F was the high but in the end I think the heat actually intensified my symptoms on the run. Got home and grabbed a quick drink then just laid on the ground in a puddle of my own dripping sweat while the dogs licked my face. live and learn. 

B-hills loop with the Secret street at the end. Thought about doing something different today. But nothing sounded good. As I started running I just ended up doing this run again- just like both runs yesterday. Legs felt soupy. I went to April last night and she worked everything over pretty good. She does an excellent job and in the end I always feel better. But the run the day after usually isn't great. Also went to Olive Garden last night and I remembered why I really don't like that place. The day after my stomach is just jacked and you just feel all that goop and junk in your system. Time to clean it up before the weekend.  

7 miles this afternoon. A high of 78 F in my backyard today. I'm not use to running in the heat and this was a sub par run. 6:47 avg but it felt too hard. Tried a mile hard in 5:30 but it was way too hard. Tried out a new pair of Kinvaras that I'm kind of planning on wearing in the race. But I wasn't totally convinced. A little soft and the forefoot feels too big. I like more of a heel to toe slop. They weren't awful so it's between them and some old Speedstars. I'll try running in the Kinvaras again on Thursday to make a final decision. 

Morning run with the guys. Pace was EZ PZ Japaneeze. Those guys are still in recovery mode from their 50 miler on Monday and I'm just trying to conserve and take it EZ before the race. And Bill runs whatever pace we tell him to:). Felt kind of flat this morning anyways. It was 52 f at 5:20 a.m. I wore some old Ohanas to test them out before the race. I'm in a race shoe dilemma. I've got 4 shoes I may wear and none of the 4 are super options.... 

Little workout/ shoe run off...

Decided to do 3 loops around the park and school loop. Each one is 2.4 miles long. On each loop I'd wear a different pair of (marathon hopeful) shoes. I'd also do 1 mile of the loop (from the park to River Road at MP tempo). On the first lap I did a couple laps on the grass at the park to help get warmed up. 

Loop 1: Asic Speedstars- Tempo mile in 5:29. Shoes felt good for being old. I wore this same pair for the first time in the STG marathon in 2008 and have bounced them around ever since. Tempo mile felt very controlled. A little fast but there is a 1% declineish down to River Road.

Loop 2: Nike Lunaracer- Tempo mile in 5:26. These shoes also felt pretty good. Good enough for a full marathon? IDK. If so I need to wash them off because they are dirty and gross. Tempo mile was a fairly comfy effort. Basically the same as the first one.

Loop 3: Saucony Kinvara- Tempo mile in 5:16. Shoes felt pretty good and better than their first run a couple days ago. Left foot is a little tight and I still don't love how think the forefoot is. I think after these shoes have 200 miles on them I'll love them to death. Tempo was a little fast. I was finally warmed up and running with good form. Plus on the first 2 I pulled up out of tempo gear at around .92 and on this leg I held it til the watch beeped.

Happy about the leg turnover and how the body felt on the workout this morning. Not happy about the shoe results. I still didn't come out with a clear winner. Lame I know but there just isn't any great marathon shoes out on the market right now.... for my running style.

3.4 mile run around the park and stuff early this morning before taking off to Vegas to catch the flight. Felt so so ish.

4 miles in Modesto from the Marriottt. Found mellow villa with low traffic behind our hotel and just kind of went out and back. It was raining and kind of windy. But in a long sleeve I was too hot by the end due to the humidity.

Up before the sun came up and out running early. Slept like crap last night. 42 F when I left the room and it felt nippy. But if temps are the same tomorrow I'll go in only race singlet. It had rained hard all night but this morning was peacful and still. A beautiful morning. No traffic at all- Californinas sleep in on Saturday. Today calls for a lot of rain later but tomorrow morning might be like today. Fingures crossed. I felt so so. Legs are pretty good but a sharp pain in the top inside thigh. Other abs and groin feel good to go.

 Modesto Marathon facts and ish- Lots of details so I hope I can organize the information and get everything out clearly. Flew into Stockton, Ca from Vegas on Friday. Drove the 28 miles from Stockton to Modesto Friday in a rental car and stayed there in a hotel for the weekend. It rained, had been rain and was going to rain on every forecast. 10-15 mph winds on and off with the rain. This race was on Sunday. I've never raced on Sunday before and don't want to make it a common practice but didn't feel horrible about setting this one up. I just kept thinking that Steve Young played in many great football games on Sunday so I might be able to run a good race too. But again I'd prefer to race on Saturday. Saturday in Modesto was chill. Drove the course, went to the expo and shopped at the mall. Then relaxed at the room and watched NCAA basketball the rest of the afternoon and evening. It rained cats and dogs all day and all night. Slept horrible. Woke up completely dripping in sweat over and over throughout the night (common for me). Woke up at 4:30 a.m Sunday morning to a clear, cool and perfect race day. I could run marathons the rest of my life and never have better conditions. 42 F no wind and beautiful. The sun came out from miles 7 to 17ish but never felt hot then it clouded back up through the finish and eventually started raining again later in the day. My wife brought her friend Brynn for the weekend with us so they had fun shopping and went back out on the town that evening... to Denny's.

The course- super flat and runs around 40 to 75 ft above sea level. Starts in downtown Modesto and runs in some very pretty neighborhoods for 3 miles then takes off out into the orchards and vineyards. Has one overpass that you run in both directions (mile 4 on the way out and 24 on the way back. Super green everywhere, with trees in full bloom. The course is GREAT! From a spectator stance my wife was able to drive to like 8 locations and see me and give me drinks and Gu. The course is out and back but you go out a little over 14 miles and then on the way back you don't do the little parade through the neighborhoods- it's just a direct shot down 9th street to the finish. I love the course and would go back for sure. 

The plan- I had two goals. One to win. Winner gets $500 and that would pay for the trip and then some. Second was to break 2:30 but this was on under idea conditions and running effort. I didn't know what to do until about 10 min's before the race started. Run a smart race and put yourself in position to win or just go for time and try to hang on to a win. Unless someone fast showed and really burned the course up. Then I'd just try and run out of my mind and stay with that person.

What happened? I decided to go for it and let the chips fall where they may. I wanted to get out strong on the first 3 miles through town and then settle into a groove as we headed out into the meat and potato's of the course.  The race started with the half marathon too so I thought maybe I'd get some half marathoners to pull me out for a while until they turned around. That didn't happen as I took the overall lead after 2 blocks and never looked back. So here's how the race went down.

1. 5:33- Out smooth and no one steps up so right off the bat I just take the lead.

2. 5:28- Fun part of the course winding and turning in the neighborhood. Very pretty.

3. 5:32- I feel like I'm Mario Kart buzzing through the streets. Nobody's even close now.

4. 5:32- Out of town and up over the overpass heading to the fields.

5. 5:35- Had a motorcycle escort to here then they wished me luck and turned back to town.

6. 5:43- Mik'L met me at the first of this mile with a bottle of mixed Cytomax

7. 5:40- Saw the girls again at around 7.3 and got my sun glasses from Mik'L.

8. 5:36- At just over 8 miles the girls where there with my first water and GU. (2nd because I took one 15 min's before the race started)

9. 5:42- Long straight sections of road surrounded by fruit orchards. Kind of like a tunnel. It was heavenly.

10. 5:41- Just clicking these solid miles off one after another and felt super smooth.

11. 5:38- At the later part of this mile I got more cytomax from the girls and headed into the final straightaway of the half. So the girls stayed there while I went down and back.

12. 5:43- Sun was out now and I was happy I'd gotten my glasses.

13. 5:38- Felt so in the groove. But forgot to look at the watch and see my half split.

14. 5:39- Down to the turn around and now I get to have a good look at where everyone else is.

15. 5:40- The 2nd pace guy (he finished 3rd) was about 4 min's back and the 3 place guy (finished 2nd and only 15 seconds behind me was about 7 min's back).

16. 5:42- Now I know that this race is mine to loose and lets face it. $500 is $500. Don't choke Clyde... I saw the girls again at the same prior spot and got more Cytomax.

17. 5:52- Stomach starting to rumble but I'm doing breathing drills and trying to keep things in check.

18. 5:57- Slowed down big time as the stomach starts to have sharp pains. Like a side ache but across the full belly. Also get my last water and Gu from the girls. I didn't feel like taking it but forced it down... actually gagged it down.

19. 5:51- Doing breathing drills helps and I settle down and get going better.

20. 5:50- I look at the watch at 20 and it was 1:53 something. I feel pretty good and think all you've got to do is manage 6 min pace in and you'll be close to breaking 2:30.

21. 5:59- Now I'm really excited and feel like I can really "manage this race out".

22. 6:09- Hit my first  mile over 6 min. Kind of a bummer emotionally because I had a mini goal of not having any miles over 6 min pace.....

23. 6:09- Stomach really starts up now. I hit my second 6+ min mile and still feel like I can find some magic but it's gonna have to come fast.

24. 6:20- Magic didn't come. But vomit is coming. From here on in I was fighting off a GU and Cytomax bomb. Stomach hurt so bad. Running dry heaving. Wincing. Moaning. Hit the little overpass hill and it really breaks my stride. I also get a pretty good look behind me and can't see anyone coming at all and feel that (worst case) I've got a 2 min buffer.

25. 6:26- Still feel super secure about winning but now time goals are down the tube so I just go into survival mode. I think to myself just don't lay down on the road and give up now. But I wanted to. Stomach was cramping so bad I almost had real tears.

26. 6:36- Legs felt almost fresh from this slowed pace and seemed to want to keep grinding. But the gut bomb was almost at it's climax. I see a spectator and just to pass the time I ask him how far back the next guy is. He says he can't see anyone. Just as I thought... I had a big lead and no one was close.  But the spectator either lied to me or didn't see the hometown hero Jon Olsen closing in on me like a freight train.

.2 in 1:37 or a 7:01 avg- Me thinking I'm finally done and no threat of anyone even 3-7 min's back slowly  makes the last turn (didn't even look back to see if anyone was close) down the finishing lane. I lift my victorious hand and work the crowd a little and finally break the tape.

Now for the DRAMA. I was hurting for sure when I finished and was fighting off a puke with every breath but I was ok. I crossed the line and bent down to catch my breath... looked up and saw Jon Olsen walking by me and he gave me a fist bump and said good job. What the *^&**%&*^*^ just happened. It seriously sent me into some kind of post race shock. I had no idea he was there. If the race would have been a block longer he'd have passed me. While I casually made my way to the finish he was dropping bombs and hunting me down like a predator. I was in complete disbelief of what just happened. Now 5 times as sick and shocked as I'd been only 30 seconds ago. My first thought was "it's not possible... he must have gotten a ride on a motorcycle or something and then sprinted up to the end. Oh boy. Lesson learned just finish every race like you were gunning for a PR.

Found out that this guy was the previous 2x defending hometown champ. Who also just 4 weeks ago ran the 13 fastest 100 mile race in American history at just over 13hrs.  Dude didn't want to loose on his home course and made a pro grade comeback on the second half to run a 6 min marathon PR of his own. I just wish that at like mile 25 I would have know he was gonna be even close.  *** just looked up our turn around splits (not the half but where the race turned around and at that point I was up on Jon by 8:20 and he closed the gap to 15 seconds.

Anyways we had a great trip. I'm pretty happy about the race. It's a great benchmark for the first marathon of the year and hopefully will spring board me into better races as the spring and summer play on. The organizers did a fantastic job. It's a smaller and new event but everything they did was like a big city marathon. Very professional. Paid me 5 one hundred dollar bills straight cash homey at the awards and there was no funny business.  Like I said I'd go back for sure.

Decided to go out for 3-4 and see how the legs felt. Got going and they felt great. Not to say I'm not sore or trashed but way less than the standard. Mostly my ankles and toes hurt and my entire ab section felt bruised. But ran well... for a Monday:)

B-hills/ Secret Street/ Little Valley. 30 F this morning and I'm guessing my veggie plants and some flowers got roasted in a freezing way last night. Dang- I should have covered them. 

Run felt pretty good. minimal soreness but just took it EZ and will for a week or so even if there's no soreness. Ankles, and toes felt all better but abs and groin are fairly sore still. 

Morning loop with the guys. Circle of Trust and Steven Abraham Lincoln Hooper Pope and Little Billy boy. 

EZ pace and felt pretty good. Overall just kind of tired. Hoping for a nap today. Weather looks to be warmer though so I'll most likely go work in the yard and garden. 

Club run at the DC. It's been a while since club runs were active. So it's nice to get things rolling again. I felt pretty good all day and was excited to run with the guys. I did eat at El Coyote for lunch and it's amazing but I had that Mexican fiesta stomach all afternoon. We just did the normal river loop and I didn't extend it out at the end to hit an even 10. Pace was up tempo the entire time and I was surprised to see a 6:28 avg at the end. It seems weird that only 4 days ago I ran a marathon. There hasn't been any post race lag this time around. Spooky but I'll take it.

Here is the newspaper article from the Modesto paper about the marathon.

HERE

The journalist did a little home cooking when writing this one up. IMHO....

DC loop in reverse of normal direction. Felt a little flat for the first time all week. I'm guessing more due to yesterday evenings harder run than from the marathon. No watch today so I'm not sure if it was really slow or not. A beautiful morning here in the STG. Got home and the scale said I was 149 lbs. Pretty low but if I could get lower on a normal basis maybe later this year I could really work to run a good race. 

Club run from the new Washington park. Kind of a big fields loop up River Road. Then Logan and I extended up under the freeway in the Dogtown and then back to the park. I didn't check the pace but we were under 7 min all day. I'm guessing around a 6:45 avg but Logan will have to verify. 

I'm almost embarrassed to post a long run and so many miles the week of a marathon. It just looks foolish. But I've felt great all week so I just ran. I guess if I burn out or get injured then hide sight will show I should have backed off. But at this point it just feels natural. Hoping to keep the razor sharp and improving... then bust another marathon off around May/June. So between now and then maybe a half and some other stuff.

DC loop. Worst run since the marathon. Just kind of had two left feet all morning. Never felt smooth. The salsa from the night before didn't help things. Just grinding it out. 

7 miles tonight around the B-hills loop and finished on the secret street. Better run than this morning but stomach wasn't doing great. Temps were just about perfect with the sun out and no winds. 66 F. 

Secret Street then the DC. Nice morning but a little cooler than it's been. 37 F. Looks like it'll be a super day with highs in the low 70's. Run seemed to take forever. Sometimes it's nice to have a watch just to keep your mind from wandering. I tried to keep the pace honest out there and most likely did but without a time reference I'll just think that the run seemed to take forever. 

Pushed Myler around the B-hills loop. I had to bribe him with a sippy cup full of apple juice. But that worked and he agreed to go on the run with me. Kind of slow and EZ around the loop. 

Morning run with the guys from my house. Usual loop. No watch but pace was a little faster than the last two weeks... but not much. Two weeks ago I was tapering and Logan and Dave had just ran their 50 miler. Then last week I was 2 days post marathon. So naturally we'd go a little faster today without any issues. But like I said- not much faster. Since my marathon in Modesto my right ankle feels like I rolled it. But I have no recollection of any incident. It's super stiff everyday just walking around the house. Once out running it warms up but sometimes like today it hurts most of the run. Pretty sore for sure. 

5.6 miles mid-morning. After my run Mik'L went out for her run. I came home and mixed up a protein shake and took a hot bath. Soaked in the tub for about 20 min's then got dressed again in some fresh running cloths and as soon as Mik'L got home I went back out. Felt dead. Ankle really hurt too. Kind of got that running dizzy feeling about 3 miles into it. Just plugged along but it wasn't pretty. Glad to be done for the day. 

DC loop. Ankle was super sore most of the day yesterday. Iced, IB'd, and tried to rub it out. Woke up and it still hurt but felt better. I put a heat patch on it and went out for the run. Managed to get through it but felt flat throughout. If I felt above average last week coming off a marathon. This week I'm back to reality. Just trying to get through the week. 

9.6  miles tonight at the DC with the club. 6:22 avg. Just kept it smooth with no big pick up at the end. Had to stop at the restrooms in B-hills where three of us needed quick relief. Sad for me because I haven't made it through a run all week without having a blowout. The real reason I run the DC loop so much.... there's 4 toilets on the 10 mile loop. Lots of options for a man in need. 

DC again. Needed around 10 miles this morning to be at 80 so tomorrows 20 miler would put me at a 100. It seems Friday morning runs (after club run on Thursday and being late in the week) are the hardest run of them all. Just made it happen even though I felt kind of trashed. Got on the scale after and was a 148.5 lbs. Low and maybe my body wants to drop 4-5 lbs. I'll take that for sure. Not sure where it would drop from but if I could weigh around 147 lbs or so on any race day naturally I'd be a little faster. 

Up and out running by 5:15 with Logan. Started from my house and went out and back to the new airport. Tough rolling course both directions. I felt pretty flat before the run even started and continued throughout. But still had a descent run with a 6:57 avg. Not stellar but that course is demanding. Nice to be done with the long run and home by around 7:30 a.m. Looking forward to relaxing the rest of the weekend and bringing the mileage down a little next week. 

Kind of all over this morning. Fields around Stone Cliff. Down to the inner river trail then through B-hills and around the park to finish. I hate running around the fields during the week. Too much traffic and little to no shoulder to run on. Plus most the cars are soccer mom's with their ear glued to a phone while speeding. It'll take an accident for something to change out there but I'm guessing it will come down to that sooner or later. As for running it was just another Monday. A little coldish with temps down to 36 F and I worried all night about it getting frosty and hitting the garden and flowers. But temps stayed up... lucky me. 

6 miles tonight. Inner B-hills loop after Mik'L got home from work. Just smooth and EZ. Decent run before grabbing some food and watching the game. Although I picked Kentucky to win I was rooting for KU and they just couldn't get anything going. 14 missed lay ups and 2 missed dunks says a lot. 

B-hills loop and finished with the secret street. If years ago I hadn't have made a commitment to be consistent; today would have been one of those day's I'd have just stayed home. Felt unmotivated and not into running this morning. But pushed it out the door. Out running things didn't get easier. Kind run that just drags on and on. But we got through it- hope this afternoon feels better. 

5.6 miles tonight around the inner B-hills loop. Felt much better than this morning. Still kind of achy but much better. No watch but I'm guessing pace was around a 6:40 avg as I moved right along so we could hit up Costco as a family and grab dinner. 

Guys run here at 5:30 a.m. DC loop nice and EZ. I wore my gps for the first time in a few weeks on this run and I actually felt like the pace was a little faster but... it really wasn't. After we finished with the guys I did 4 more and and back. Kind of done by the end but felt better than yesterday morning for sure. 7:07 avg for the entire run. 

B-hills loop and extended around the secret street. Just tried to take it EZ. I feel so tired this week. I need to schedule a 24 hour nap... with nothing else. 

10 miles tonight with the club. Really windy from the southwest. Some sections it just stopped you in your tracks. I hate running in the wind more than anything. 6:35 avg.

DC loop and extended back through the secret street. 6:54 avg. As I suspected after last nights run in the wind I was pretty trashed this morning. And the allergies are super bad causing bad drainage, blockage, and crazy itchy eyes. When it's this bad the whole body just feels weak. So the run was a labor of love this morning. Glad it's done and I can chill the rest of the day while watching The Masters. 

Big workout

Ran the same workout I did one month ago before Modesto. 5 mile warm up then 13 mile tempo and a 2 mile cool down back home. The warm up miles were around the park and over to the trail system through B-hills. Then started the tempo on the club 10 mile river loop going clockwise. The tempo starts where the trail comes into B-hills above the river by the cliff.  After hitting one lap I just overlapped back around the inner DC loop and back up to River Road. I didn't go into the workout with big plans of "hammering" anything. But I did want to hit things semi hard just to help the run get over with. I ended up running really strong and hit a PR on the course of a 6:19 avg for the entire 20 miles- one month ago I hit a 6:23 avg.

For some reason the first miles are slow on both runs. First miles heads towards the freeway then over by Pilot truck stop. The next mile should be fast as it's downhill into Bloomington. But it must just take me a long time to get going. 

On the 13 mile tempo section I ran it 1:20 faster today than last time. Here are my splits today. 

6:31, 6:15, 6:03, 5:57, 6:00, 5:45, 5:31, 5:42, 5:31, 5:58, 5:37, 5:39, 5:55

Solid run and I guess dare I say improvement over the last time. Never felt amazing but the times were solid across the board. It was cool this morning at 35 F and actually dropped some frost that did damage on my tomato plants and some flowers. Bummer. 

I like this 20 miler A LOT. For some reason the way it's laid out it just makes your brain feel like your not running 20 miles- and it helps that most of the run was before the sun came up.

Glad to get it in. Came home and went right to work on mowing and edging the lawn. Then took Myler to the city park for a Easter egg hunt- then over to the Arts festival and bought some art. Now I'm trashed and will watch golf- sucks that Tiger blew it yesterday.

Normal DC loop. A glorious morning to be out running. Good running temps (46 F) no wind, green grass, flowers, and the sound of birds singing all through town. Body felt ok. I had some cake and some ice cream cake from DQ last night at a birthday party. Ice cream just doesn't go with my system. 

8 miles around the B-hills loop then extended to the Secret Street and back around Little Valley. It was around 85 F and hot. My system just isn't ready for the heat yet. Seemed hard by the end and too exhausting for an 8 miler. 

Woke up thirsty and feeling not so chipper. Not recovered from last nights hot run. So this mornings run was a fight. Every mile seemed hard but I just kept grinding it out. Glad it's over. Might not get out again today... just depends on how the afternoon and evening go with young mens tonight. 

3.6 miles this afternoon on the treadmill before going to YM. I know it was short but the run wasn't to bad for being on the machine. 

Logan was the only show today. So the two of us cruised around the loop. The overcast and warm night left the morning at 61 F. I started off with a shirt but by the time we got to the DC around 4 miles into the run I had to go shirtless. I know we kind of looked funny to passersby running in the darkness of morning without shirts... but it really was that warm and we were sweating. Logan much more than I obviously. 

Finished off the loop with him then went back out for 4 more. I was running a little behind schedule and had to run harder to get back in time for Mik'L to go. Got sick of the wind coming back over by the park. 

Secret street then the DC loop. Got  a little rain last night and temps dropped from the high's of the last few days. Thank goodness. I'm not ready for 80+ degrees. Had a hard time getting going until I stopped at the DC for a potty break. After that I felt better and got a little rhythm going. Cafe Rio last night was good but didn't work that great for the morning after. 

10 miles tonight at running club. Started out pushing Myler in the jogger. Mik'L had a long meeting so I just had to bring him. She got done and was able to meet us just into Bloomington by the softball fields. Then I continued with the guys but... remembered that I sent the keys to my truck with Mik'L (left them in a pocket in the jogger). So when we got to River road I just turned south and headed back towards home via the Secret street which extended it to an even 10 miles. 

Hard on... The first 7 went by pretty good. 8 got hard. 9 was so so. Then from 10 to home was a death mach. Tired. Hammies haven't bothered me since before Modesto but they tightened up this morning. I had gloves on but by the end I was too hot with them and the long sleeve. Nothing was going right. Hoping to feel better tomorrow so I can get through a harder 10k and 20 total miles. 

Official time was 33:15 but I had 33:04... so I'll compromise with a 33:08. I'm not sure how the mix up happened but it's not a big deal. 

9.7 mile warm up. Temps were a little chilly but pretty good during the warm up. I looped around the starting area and club house of the golf course 3 times hitting the first 3 miles. Then headed out 3 miles down into the industrial park below the freeway. Then came back and did a little more after changing shoes, taking a GU and hitting my 6th potty stop of the morning. 

2 min's before the race started it started to rain sideways with wind. I was almost soaked before the gun went off. After getting wet and with chilly temps/ hard winds I got freezing cold. During the first 3 miles into a solid wind my arms, hands, fingers and wrists were almost numb. I'd try and shake them out and it was like dead weights. This is the first time I've ever got COLD during the actual running part of a race. Usually your cold before and after. Today I was freezing during and should have worn more cloths.

Anyhow .5 miles into the race I couldn't hear anyone close and knew I'd be rolling solo today. Tried to just get a solid push in up and down the hills of the first 3.5 miles. There's a couple uphills and some good downhills up to that point. I kept missing my splits so I was basically just running off feel. Once I hit the bottom and started the climbing 2 miles I just wanted to not give in to the uphill. I'd battled a headwind for the first 3.5 but for the first time of the day the wind was a good thing as it helped push me up the hills.

Once I finally got to the top I though I'd lay down the hammer on the last .8 or so to the finish. But as I rounded the corner I was hit in the face with a headwind again. Muther... It gave me a brain freeze. My forehead and temples were soaked and as the wind pounded me my head got as cold as if I were tubing in snow without wearing a winter hat. It was the craziest thing... just a cold wind. Crazy that just a few days ago it was 88 degrees.

Finished up and switched into some dry cloths for a short cool down. But I didn't need to "cool down" as my teeth were chattering for the next 40 min's until the awards were over.

Glad to get in the miles today and get my monthly 100 mpw over with for April. I didn't want to come hammer this. Had no plans to do anything but get some quicker miles in as part of a longer run. But I ended up hitting a PR on the course by around 63 seconds. Really surprised by that considering wind, me being trashed (the warm up about killed me). But I'm guess the cold part actually helped me race a little better than if it was hot.

Did my Birthday Challenge today. Yes I turned 33 so that means a 33 mile run. I wasn't feeling like doing it this year but pitched the idea to the guys and didn't think they'd be down... but they were like "yeah, I'm there". Had they not been on board I'd have skipped it. 

So when great minds start working together great ideas are formed: "Let's meet at 12:00 a.m on your Birthday". Oh yes we did! Started the run at midnight April 16, 2012. The Circle of Trust and Stephen. Steve joined us for the first 2 loops or first 23 miles. 

First loop was our summer tempo loop out through the fields, down the river trail and back up River Road.

Next 2 loops were my DC loop although we ran in reverse of our normal direction. I felt pretty good the entire run. Got a little trashed around mile 21 but took a GU at mile 23 (our second aid stop at my house). Then felt surprisingly fresh on the third lap. Pace was just chill the whole morning as we didn't want to do anything but run the distance. Weather was picture perfect. Started out at around 50 F and dropped to about 42 F by the end. No wind calm and clear.

We made some fun memories on pretty much our craziest run ever... so far. 4:10:28 total running time. Fun way to start my Bday. Came home and laid down for an hour or so but couldn't sleep. So I got up and went out to do some chores in the yard. Came back in and watched a wicked HOT Boston marathon. I've had a wicked nasty headwind Boston before and this made me really happy I didn't go this year. 2 bad races there both on my Bday would have drove me to retirement.

Good job to all the bloggers for gutting it out!

Middle B-hills loop extended home via the secret street. I planned on only running today if I felt great. I woke up and felt really good. My head was heavy and I could have slept for 10 more hours but legs and system wanted a run. Had to fight off the urge to go longer. I need to save something in the legs for the paintball match today with our young men and some of the Little Valley 7th ward priests and leaders. It's on like Donkey Kong. 

Normal Wednesday morning loop with the Circle of Trust. Peaceful morning and warmish at 53 F. Just a EZ and chatty loop. Still feel pretty sleep deprived but legs seem to be feeling pretty good. 

5.2 more miles this afternoon/ evening. Tonight was supposed to be different. Dave and Logan decided to hold a open mile at the track meet and we were going to run it. It sounded horrific but for some reason I showed up. I'd eaten lunch only 1.5 hours prior and it wasn't setting too well. But I still was game to run. However once I got out and started warming up and running some miles there was bigger issues than food and stomach. I just felt tight, sore, and super tired. I ran a little over a mile at the school around the football field then went up around the mall and back to the school. By the time I got back I realized there was no way I should or could run an all out mile. Just didn't want to force it. Glad I didn't. 

Club run at the DC. It was 88 F and with the heat and my previous "jacked" feeling state- this run felt hard. 6:37 avg. I feel more worn down and trashed than I've been since last summer. My goal was to stay on top of it and never bottom out. Hoping to rebound and get some MOJO back. 

DC loop this morning. Mik'L went out at 6:45 and I spent the next hour trying to decide if I was going or not. By the time she got home I was dressed and waiting in the driveway. Just overall flat and tired. Could use some solid rest... but I haven't been sleeping very good. I think it's the warmer nights. I finally had to turn the AC on for the first time this spring. Sucks because it's a long season before she'll get shut off again. 

.6 mile warm up- not really to warm up but to keep from shivering. It felt cold up at the start.... but then .5 miles down the road warm air moved in and we all felt it get really hot. 

It was called a 30k but the distance ended up being 17.84 so... a little short of the 18.64 official 30 k distance. I didn't care. I didn't go to this race to race or do anything official. Just a good excuse to get a long run in with some faster miles mixed. The plan was to warm up for the first 5 miles or so then try and do some kind of tempo to the finish.

The plan worked for 2ish miles hitting 6:17, 6:12 on the first two. But then Steven kept pushing the gas and we  hit the 3rd mile in 5:48 and it started a rush of faster miles for me all the way to the end. Finished the 17.84 miles in a 5:46 avg. So a pretty good marathon pace workout when I really have felt trashed all week. TRASHED. Never felt super but never felt horrible today- just an even effort across the board. The course has a good elevation drop as it starts above the town of Gunlock and drops to Ivans but there are several solid uphills throughout the entire length. Including 2 in the last 4 miles that really make you work. Plus by then it was full sun and over 80.

1.25 cool down- felt like I worked but didn't trash anything along the way.

Overall I'm pretty pumped about the results of the workout. Can't really call it a race. But at the end of a bigger week which included a 33 mile run on Monday. I'll take it and smile.

DC loop then finished with the secret street. Quads were kind of sore from the 30k on Saturday. I haven't really touched downhill since STG marathon and it shows. Temps were warm too- started the run at 7:40 when Mik'L got home from her's and it was 60 F. By the time I was done the sun was fully up and temps were closing on 75 F. Yesterday's high of 99 F is a dreadful sign that summer in STG has started much too early. 

Going to see April today. Loosen up the hammy and straighten out everything else. 

Secret Street then DC loop. Man my quads are sore and trashed. The downhill and rolling terrain of Saturday was an eye opener. I'm much more tore up than after the full Modesto marathon. I even went to April's yesterday.... but I think I was too sore to really let her dig. It should just work it's self out over the week and I'm having a semi recovery week too so that'll help. 

Oh and the weather is crazy. Yesterday was the first 100 F of the year. Too early for sure. 

6 miles tonight around the B-hills loop. Hot but didn't seem overwhelming. Had to cram it in fast so I could go on a hike with the young me up into the Red Cliffs water falls and pools. Had fun there but was tired.

Club run here from my house. I woke up early and so I decided to go out and run a little before. When I got out there Dave and Logan were already out running. So I did 1.3 then came back and joined the Circle of Trust and Billy. We hit the regular loop slow and EZ. Then I did another park loop after we finished. Pretty trashed by the end. Wishing the legs would snap out of it. 

DC loop with just a little added exploring a street in B-hills. Had an upset stomach last night and felt horrible. My wife thinks it was some dark grapes we got at Costco. Because everyone in the house had similar issues. Anywho I felt better this morning but not all the way. By the time I go to the DC I really needed a potty break... and it was the sick kind of stop....

9.7 miles tonight with the club and James B. was down from SLC so he joined. Regular loop. It was windy... I hate wind. Picked it up the last 3 miles. 6:28 avg for the run.

DC loop this morning. 147.5 lbs this morning after the run. I've been consistently under 150 lbs now for a couple months. Good things can only result from weeding off 6-10 lbs of fluff. 

Long run. Out around the southern parkway into SunRiver. Then up into Bloomington around that loop. Up the river trail to river road then back up through B-hills to end it. Met Steve and James B. Started out nice and EZ but we got to 10 miles under a 7 min avg. Those guys cut it off there and then I continued and started to run a little faster. But overall just wanted to keep today EZ. Ended with a 6:40 avg for the day. 

Taking the boat out to the lake today. Maybe I'll soak my legs in the cold water... but I'm not getting anymore in than that. 

DC loop this morning. Really seemed to drag. I didn't feel too bad but the run would never end!

P.M. B-hills extended through the Secret St tonight.  87 F in the shade and it felt hot out. I was glad to get this one done. I'm not sure how I'll make it through the summer. It's gonna suck.

Secret Street then DC. Another draggin type run. Just couldn't get into it and next thing I knew the run seemed to last all day. About 2 miles from the finish I realized I was over striding and so I started to use short and quicker steps. Seemed to help a little.  

4 miles this afternoon on the treadmill. Had to cram it in while Myler napped. Wasn't to bad- just watched PTI and tried some new shoes out. 

Regular morning run with the guys. I woke up at 4:30 a.m again... and decided to get out and do some before. Only to find Logan already out hitting it. So picked up some there. Then Billy joined us for the regular loop. Then Logan and I looped around Little Valley and I ended up with just over 15 for the morning. EZ pace at 7:08 avg for the run. 

5.6 miles tonight after Mik'L got home from the office. It was warm today but by the time I ran the breeze seemed to feel good and things weren't too bad. Came home and enjoyed French toast (a weekly fav in this house). With 11 chickens you gotta find ways to use the eggs. 

DC loop. Kind of tight and kinky but once I got going the pace was honest the whole route. It was 59 F for the low last night but once I got out running and the sun came up- it really felt warm. 73 F when I got home and I had my shirt off! 147.0 lbs and that's just about as low as I go. Nothing left to lose. Now I just need to maintain and stay strong. 

9.6 miles tonight with the club. It was 88 F on the drive over and 87 F on the drive back. So yeah... hot. Windy too so it was more like running in a food dehydrator than anything. Got done and had a think layer of crusted salt all over my body. Came home and all I had for dinner was liquid. 6:36 avg we started really slow and finished pretty slow.

Middle B-hills loop with a Secret St. finish. Kind of tapped out for the week and happy to have a EZ day. After the run I was 146.5 basically my lowest weight since high school. I could have pushed it lower too had I waited to drink until after mowing my lawn and my wife's grandmas lawn. Could have dropped another pound at least... but lets be honest. I'm not a wrestler anymore and didn't have to make weight. So I pounded lots of fluid. 

Finally finished with the morning run, lawns and other yard crap at noon and got my first shower of the day. I smelled great:)

Big Workout

Did my River trails tempo run workout that I've ran twice before. Once one month before the Modesto around Feb 17th and once a few weeks after on April 7th. My times from those two workouts were a  6:23 and 6:19 avg respectively for the 20 miles with 13 of it at a MP tempo.

Today was a little different. 1st I recruited Aaron to run with. Big help having someone else there. And we pushed the tempo out from 13 miles to 14.8 and ended up doing a total of 22 miles at a 6:06 avg.

So anyway you look at it today's workout dominated my past runs. And after today's run it pushed my weekly total to 103 which is a PR for the year too.

We got out of the hole faster than normal hitting the very first mile in 7:03 and then down around 6:35 for the next 4 miles to top off our first 5 mile warm up:) Then started the tempo at the regular place. Up on the trail that overlooks the river where it comes into B-hills. Took off from there to the truck stop and down into Bloomington.

Splits today- 5:57, 5:53, 5:54, 5:46, 5:40, 5:38, 5:28, 5:37, 5:35, 5:42, 5:46, 5:38, 5:47, 5:44, I didn't get the split for the last .8

Splits on April 7- 6:31, 6:15, 6:03, 5:57, 6:00, 5:45, 5:31, 5:42, 5:31, 5:58, 5:37, 5:39, 5:55

Ended up hitting the first 20 miles just under 2 hrs which is hard to do in a workout that's not down the STG marathon course.  Finished 22 miles in 2:14:09

Very solid workout for me on a flat or slightly hilly course. Nothing downhill for sure. I guess because of the even splits in the tempo and the length of the run and the fairness of the course this may be the BEST workout in my running history.  

cooled down for about 2.2 back to the house... actually when we got to the house we were at 21.75 and both of us decided we might as well do another quarter to square off the 22.

Felt kind of sickish this morning. Allergies have been off the hook. So running sounded horrible when I first got out of bed. But after 40 min's of milling around the house I was finally ready to go out. Once out it only took a mile or so and I felt really good for  a Monday. It was nice and cool and a beautiful morning to be out. DC loop and finished with the Secret Street. Lots of bugs in the air on the trail... but I didn't need to eat breakfast when I got home, so that was good. 

Pushed Myler around Little Valley and out into Silkwood. Can't believe how many houses are out there now. Crazy how fast entire sub divisions go up. Kept the pace super EZ plus the wind was pounding and with a jogger that makes it tough. Tried out some new Salomon running shoes I won at the Red Mt 30k.  The XR Mission. Felt ok not super awesome. But if they don't work out as running shoes I'll just keep them for regular life because their kool.

DC/ Secret St loop. Same as yesterday. Although today was a drag. Just could not get going. Legs were noodles and heavy from A to Zed. Hammy has been rather painful for about 4 days. Mik'L keeps rolling it out but it may be time to visit April and get things sorted. 

3.6 miles on the treadmill this afternoon. It was hot out and I didn't feel like going out in the sun. Plus I needed to get caught up on some PTI so I stayed in. Ran very slow and just kind of enjoyed watching TV and forgot that I was running. 

Wed morning run at my house with the lads. I did 1.4 before. Then the normal loop where the pace seemed a little faster than the body wanted to move- but I did feel much better than yesterday. Nice run under a bright moon before the sun came up. Then Steve and I went back out for just under 4 more. 7:06 avg for all the miles this morning. 

Glad to be done for the day. 

Inner B-hills loop extended through the secret street. Just low on energy and ambition this morning. Overall the run was about a 2 out of 10 on the quality mark. Achy and tired I just put it in "D" and slowly made my way around. Hoping for a better showing at club tonight. 

9.6 miles tonight with the club. It was 96 F when I drove over and 93 F on my way back... in the shade. Most of this run is in the wide open sun plus wind. Needless to say it was hot and the wind blew and I really felt horrible. Just didn't have anything in the legs. The last two miles seemed to last forever and killed me off. 6:44 avg

A variation of the DC loop but only because I dropped down around there. Everything before and after was different. Felt really trashed right out of bed. Didn't feel great on the run but not horrible like last night. Legs kind of feel like they need a break. I think the added heat of late is zapping the system. Just caught the 7 min guy at the finish for a 7:00 avg on the run. 

Met at the running store and shuttled up past Leeds with a bigger group. Steve and I ran nice and EZ almost all the way down. We did start a little fast because of a ripping tailwind but never pushed the pace at all. Got some good downhill miles in prep for Ojai. I feel that my once great downhill legs are long gone and I've basically forgot the hidden art. Today didn't really help relearn as I never wanted to go very fast. Feel pretty spent and glad the week is over. 6:28 avg for the run. 

DC loop with a Secret st finish. Kind of sort of this morning. Noting great nothing too bad. Just going through the motions. 

Middle B-hills loop this afternoon and secret st at the end. The high for the day was 98 F and I went out at 4:55 p.m so pretty much caught the hottest part of the day. Just took it super EZ as to not tap out the system early in the week. Ended up feeling pretty good when I got home. 

DC then the Secret St. Really kind of in a rutt right now. Just draggin on almost every run. The marathon at the first of June can't come quick enough as I'm ready for some kind of break from the day to day grind. Another week and a half and then I can start the taper... oh how sweet that sounds. The overnight low was only 68 F so it was warm out this morning and I'm preparing for a very hot afternoon.

Morning run here. Steven Abraham Lincoln Hooper was my only companion this morning. I won't hold it against Logan and Dave for not coming. Better they rest up and recover now. Steve and I busted out a new DC loop. Kind a little tour up and around St. James place and then around the DC. We extended around the park and with the couple I did before Steve got here I was at 15.1 once we got to the house... PERFECT. Because that's all I wanted. Felt a little better after not running last night. Cooler temps this morning helped too at 57F. 

DC loop. Nice morning- calm and around 61 F when I got out at 6:20 a.m. Relaxed for the first 2.5 and hit a porta potty. Then tried to work on my form for the rest of the run. Smoother, quicker, and more efficient turnover. This naturally made the pace faster. No watch but the pace was honest all the way back around. Form is kind of in a rut. Just feel mechanical. Sucks because 3 weeks ago I was feeling on top of the world with running and it's seemed to kind of slip through my fingers the last couple weeks. In the next couple weeks before Ojai I need to rally the troops and try and get some MOJO back. 

9.5 miles at club tonight. Horrible horrible run tonight. When I arrived it was 98 F and when I left it was 96 F. But that wasn't the worst of it. The wind was howling. It was coming from the SW so hard that it would totally stop us or throw us across the bike path. It just beat me up big time and that was in the first 2.4 miles down to the Man-o-war bridge. My quads were screaming. Tonight only Aaron and I showed so we still kept a pretty solid pace. But by the time we got to River Road and turned back into the wind I was done and now totally dehydrated. Ran to 9 miles. Then turned off the watch and ran/ walked it in. I can't remember the last time I had to walk a run in... Just felt horrible. Got home and my weight was 146 and basically as low as I possibly get. My wife is battling a fever and sore throat and I think I'm coming down with the start of something. 

St. James/ DC loop. Was totally dehydrated last night and drank like a fish. Still woke up at 5 a.m and had a super dry mouth and sore throat. Drank about 1.5 lbs of cytomax. Felt pretty trashed and kind of sick. But pushed myself out the door at 8 a.m after Mik'L got done with her run. The overnight low was 71 F and it was 74 F by the time I got out- then 86F by the time I got home. Just kept it super EZ and didn't overwork anything. 7:09 avg to finish up. Got on the scale after the run to see a new all time running low of 145.5 lbs.  Mik'L said I looked "grey" when I walked in the door. Now hoping for  a miraculous recovery so I can do a 20 mile workout Saturday morning... we'll see:)

Another long run bites the dust. Met up at the Summit Gym and did a 20 miler with Steve and Aaron. Started out into the fields and basically hit our summer tempo loop back over to River Road. Then basically another loop on the Thursday club loop down into Bloomington. Pace kind of just stared a little faster than normal and just kind of stayed uptempo all run. We had a lot of bathroom stops in the first 12 miles which made it hard to get going then stop then try to get going again then stop.... But by the time we got to the DC on the way down with roughly 8 miles to go we had our "issues" worked out and were able to keep a solid push back- down to Man-o-war, up to Pilot and back up the new trail to River Road. Had at least 12 miles at 6 min or faster pace with the last two at 5:25, 5:28 to finish off the tempo. Then one mile cool down. Ended with a 6:15 avg for the 20 miles. So all around a pretty solid run at the end of my roughest week so far this year- with kind of being sick and very dehydrated a couple times over the week. Just about to the taper. One week to go. 

7:04 avg DC loop in reverse. Legs felt ok but on the heavy side. Body is totally sore- to the bone.  We took the boat out on Saturday and I busted out the wake board. The lake temp said 69 F and I also had a new wet suit to try out. I loved both (boarding and the wet suit) and had a blast. But I forgot how jacked the whole body feels the first couple times out each summer- skiing or boarding. You just use muscles that normally don't get use. Nonetheless I'm hurting- abs, bi's, tri's, lats, neck, back, butt... oy!

So the run was so so. The bright side of the run was the Pegasus finally felt good after about 3-4 crappy runs breaking them in. 

4.9 miles tonight out around Silkwood and Little Valley. Just EZ in the hot afternoon sun and breeze. 96 F.

DC loop with a Secret St finish. It got down to 62 F this morning and was  only 64 F when I left the house at 7:35 a.m. But by the time I got home It was already up to 84 F and I felt pretty hot. The body still feels sore and even some soreness in the legs that wasn't there yesterday. But still had a good run. No watch but kept the pace uptempo as the form and spring in the legs seemed flawless (which was nice). Because even though I'm sore and tired when the form is sharp, the run is quicker and more enjoyable. 

3.6 miles slow on the treadmill this afternoon while watching PTI. 

Early morning club run from my house with the Circle of Trust. I got in 3.75 before Logan and Dave showed. Then we ran the new St. James loop extended around the park to hit 16.5 for the morning. Really dragged today. Got to bed after midnight and didn't sleep very good at all- then up at 4 a.m (alarm was set for 4:30 but I couldn't sleep). Plus the overnight low was still 72 F and I just felt hot, tired and uncomfortable all morning. Need to take and ice bath just to cool the body off.  

Out into the fields and around Stone Cliff. Then down the river trails all the way to the freeway. Around Pilot and up the Brigham road hill- then back home. 6:54 avg for the run. Felt achy, tired and slow. But times were still as fast or faster than normal for an EZ run. Wanted to go explore down by the river and see what the fire did yesterday afternoon. Burned up all the dead growth along the river all the way up the hill and even burned across the foot bridge- hopefully they open it back up soon. 

6 miles around the inner DC loop for club. Steve, Dave and I cut it short leaving Aaron to run the second half a lone. Basically we all were acting like we were crippled 85 year olds. Can I say that it felt cool at 91 F?

DC loop. It started out with a low of 71 F and then add in a lot of wind. Just a slug match between me the course and the wind this morning. I'm not sure of the overall results but I know for sure I didn't win. Excited to be done for the day and hopefully can rest/ recharge before tomorrow mornings longish run. I'm running on "E". 

10 miles along the bank of Lake Michigan here in Milwaukee. Mik'L and I got a wild hair and decided to skip town on a random trip. Looked through some cheap flights and booked the trip in an hour or so. Then caught a red eye out of vegas last night. Flew to Detroit then over to Milwaukee. We got here at 9 a.m and were able to check in to the room. I went out for the run 6:39 avg and then we drove to Chicago to see the sights and visit an old  friend. Fun but extreamly long day. Time to sleep.

Did a non normal Sunday run. With the travel and craziness of it all I just needed to keep the system semi regular. Ran from the hotel over to the Brewers ballpark. Felt ok.

Biggish workout. One more before Ojai marathon next Sunday. Today I left the hotel and ran down to Lake Michigan. Then up and around  a park overlooking the lake until I was out 7 miles. Hit that 7 in a 7:02 avg.

Then did a 4 mile MP or so tempo at 5:44 avg. Felt really hot and muggy and this tempo didn't really go as planned. Sturggled the last mile into a pretty hard head wind.

1 mile recover

1  at HMP or so in 5:28

1 mile cool down back to the room

Really not the best run. Struggled in the hot muggy conditions. Plus we've been on the go for 3 days straight with a red eye flight. So the system is pretty wore down. Travel home today then rest for 4 days before going to Cali.

Flew into Vegas last night then drove back home... trashed. By the time I got in bed the wheels were gone and I just crashed. But sometime in the night a fire alarm stared beeping due to low battery life and after laying there in a coma for a half hour I had to go rip it down and I put it in the washing machine to keep the noise down. Anyways I'm tired and felt it on the run. Plus we ate a bunch of cheese before leaving Wisconsin yesterday afternoon and it was like a brick in my stomach this morning. Just got through some miles this morning. The main goal for the week is to rest. I do have an appointment with April today to loosen up all my aches and pains. 

7 miles this afternoon. I wasn't going to run again today but the scale said I was about 3lbs too fat. Thought a double for the day would help to clean up the system. It did. The run felt so so. The 93F felt pretty warm right out under the sun. Tried to take it EZ. Got home and had a appointment with April for my pre marathon massage. Feeling really tight and kind of sick. 

St. James loop. Tried to take it EZ and ended up with a 7:24 avg. But I'm not sure I could have gone any faster if I'd wanted to. Legs felt pretty much like hamburger after my massage last night. And I think I've got hand, mouth and foot. Most commonly found in children but affects adults with symptoms similar to a cold. It's been going around St. George for a couple weeks now. We know a couple house holds who's children have it. Anyways I have some of the symptoms and a couple unexplained sores on my wrist and chin... 

Spent most of the run contemplating pulling out of Ojai and maybe trying to get into UV next week. Ugh! Flights are already paid for so I don't know what to do. 

Inner B-hills loop extended on the Secret St. I guess just the typical taper junk. Heavy legs and felt like a turtle as I made my way around the loop. Came home and gave myself a hair cut and shaved the arms, legs ect. Feel clean and fast now- sort of. 

EZ miles out around Silkwood then a Little Valley tour. Woke up earlier than planned and decided to go out. Good thing because I got a golf invite and had to be there at 7:30. I pulled into the parking lot at 7:30. Both the golf game and the run were a little sub par. But it was fun and free... and hot. Fly to SoCal this evening. 

EZ run up the beach trail here in Ventura. Basically did the last 4 miles of the marathon course. Temps felt pretty good and the humidity didn't bother too bad. But it was slow and short.

We woke to horrific news. Got a phone call that a close family friend to my wifes mom died a in tragic car wreak in NYC last night. My mother-in-law and nephew were in the city with them but waiting in the room. Her friend and her grandson were taxiing to the room from the airport when a garbage truck hit them killing the our friend, and the driver and injuring the grandson.

It's been an emotional day for my wife and her family as her mom is the only one out there with the grandson who was in a coma but seems to be on the road to recovery. Tragic for sure. I feel horrible even thinking about worring about running a marathon tomorrow. We just wish we were home and had our own little boy. Lifes so fragile, guess you just never know.

I have no goals tomorrow- just hope to feel good and get it over with so we can get home.

Never felt into it today. Just couldn't get going. Did't sleep at all last night- totally soaked my bed in sweat. Felt like I was sleeping in a garbage bag. Spits from the race weren't too bad but the effort was way too hard. Humidity was off the hook and I've never sweat that bad in my life. Was covered in salt.

Got caught at mile 25.5 and ended up second. Just kind of bummed all around. Can't wait to get home and see Myler. He's been at Gramps and Grammys house for 11 days. Too long. Anyways full report tomorrow when I'm home.

--------------------

Race Report*

The course starts in Ojai a smaller city about 12 miles from Ventura Ca. You make a 6 mile loop in Ojai then run down in to Ventura and then do about 5.5 miles up and down the beach front. So the course is semi aided starting at 700 ft and dropping to sea level. But you actually climb up to 800 ft or something. There's a good uphill from mile 2.5 to 5. Continual climbing throughout.

Mik'L drove us up to Ojai that morning. Our motel was on the beach a mile or so from the finish down in Ventura. Temps were just under 60 F. Humidity was like nothing I'd ever seen (while running). I did live in northern England for 2 years and this was very similar. Think, wet air. Almost like running through a membrane or something. In the car on the way up we had to keep using the windshield wipers but it wasn't raining. Just a ton of moister in the air.

Anyways got to the start with about 45 min's to spare. Hit the porta pod. Then sat in the car for a while. Then we did a warm up with another potty stop and it was basically time to start. Race started 10 mins late which was bothersome. Some guy liked the sound of his own voice on a megaphone and just kept rambling on and on about who know what. Finally I yelled out "lets go". He didn't seem too happy about being called out in front of the 1000+ other runners.

1. 5:35- Went out shoulder to shoulder with the eventual winner (Jay I think was his name) but by .7 I started to pull away.

2. 5:23- The first 2.5 miles kind of drop around the west side of Ojai before you start the climb up around the east side to make the loop. I just tried to relax and run smooth. But in hindsight this mile seems too fast now.

3. 5:28- Half mile downhill and half mile up as we start really the only ONE uphill section. As I round the turn I glance back and don't even really see Jay anywhere.

4. 5:43- My plan for the uphill miles was to stay relaxed and not force the pace at all. But I did want to keep all my splits under 6 min pace. By now I'm completely saturated in sweat and for some crazy reason my left quad is cramping really bad... just have to keep grinding.

5. 5:52- Steepest uphill mile. Goal was to keep it under 6 min pace and was happy to see a 5:52 when I felt like I was really taking it EZ. Mik'L met me at the end of this mile and top of the hill with my first GU.

6. 5:37- Start repeating the first part of the loop past the starting line and down out of Ojai. Just trying to kind of work into a smooth pace. The crazy thing is that this was the same leg as the 2nd mile and now that I was "warmed up" I was expecting to run it faster... but was 14 seconds slower.

7. 5:42- Same mile as the 3rd give or take. Not trying to force any pace just trying to conserve energy. But things just feel harder than they should.

8. 5:34- Take the paved trail out of Ojai and start the downhill miles to Ventura. Heart rate seems high and both quads are cramping.

9. 5:47- This mile seemed really hard. Didn't feel like I was going anywhere and was already having thoughts of the worst...

10. 5:39- Happy to see the pace come down a little on a section that wasn't as fast as mile 9. Tried to tell myself that things were ok and that we could do this.

11. 5:25- The best all out  downhill mile of the course. No rollers just straight drop. 

12. 5:33- Kind of flattens out for a few. Still a net drop but much less grand than the likes of mile 11. I'm hanging in there. Basically just grinding out every mile. Never felt good and just had to work for  everyone. But was happy to see that each mile would still come to me even feeling so blah.

13. 5:42- Fairly flat with a couple little drops. Hit the half at 1:13:30 on my gps (13.11). But when I got to the race clock half it was at (13.35 and 1:15:00). I'm pretty sure my watch was right and they were set up a little long. At this point Mik'L tells me I'm about 1:20 up on Jay who's in 2nd place and a long ways up on 3rd. So I kind of stop worrying about "racing" anyone and just try to focus on my own splits.

14. 5:42- Very similar mile to the last.

15. 5:37- I don't remember this mile at all.

16. 5:39- As I'm approaching the mile marker I'm thinking that I'm coming up to 15 and as I get close I see the "16" mile sign. Sweet! It was like a free mile. You think your at 15 and then hit 16 in a marathon... a plus for sure.

17. 5:42- Grinding it out. The course is just a 1% or so downhill through most of these miles. I'm super uncomfortable throughout. Just not mentally there plus physically really feel like I'm killing it every single mile... just cannot get into a groove. Heart rate had to be sky high. I did see a GIANT bullfrog right on the trail during this mile. The guy on the bike that was escorting me down the trial turned around and we discussed just how big that sucker really was. At least 2.5 softballs or bigger.

18. 5:34- This was a fast mile and I'm not sure why or how. Not any steep downhill just more of the same. I sure didn't feel like superman all the sudden. But I'll take it.

19. 5:45- Mentally just really trying to work hard til mile 20 or so. Wanted to get down to the beach and then see how I'd fare on the last 5.5 of the course

20. 5:52- I can tell that things are going to get UGLY. Hit 20 mile in 1:53:00. So with some quick math still think I can totally go sub 2:30 if I only hold 6 min pace....

21. 6:04- Mik'L was here with a drink and some chomps. But we missed the handoff and this really through me off. She had to sprint up and get them to me and between the handoff... trying to drink and chew... I just totally lost momentum.

22. 6:07- running on the road on the beach front. Passing half marathoners. I'm really, really not doing good.

23. 6:00- Past the Ventura pier. Think to myself "Clyde just dig deep here". "It's right there and you can go get it". But I just cannot go any harder.

24. 6:10- This was the longest, hardest mile in all my marathons. It was a turn around mile and as we just kept going farther and farther away from the finish line the mile seemed to drag on forever. I yelled at the bike guy "are we going the right way... shouldn't we have turned by now". I wasn't joking either- very concerned and desperate. Plus as the mile ends we did hit the turn around and all the sudden I see Jay (2nd) place guy only about 20 seconds back... OMH. I know I'm toast. 

25. 6:05- Tried so hard to dig here. Wanted to win. The day before the race I didn't care about winning. But now 25 miles into this death march of a race I wanted something....  I'd earned a win.... Jay catches me at 25.5 and hit's me like a brick wall. It was sad. I couldn't respond and that was the end of my glory. The bike escort that had become my buddy over the last 25 miles was so easily won over by the new guy. All we had gone through together and it meant nothing. I was the old cow and Jay was the new cow. New cows are better:)

26. 6:22- With the win gone and finish line in sight I just finished. Not grand not victorious. My heart hurt and so did my quads and calves.

.2  in 5:54 pace.

So that's that. A very emotional week. A long hard race. And a downer of a finish. Guess it's time to move on past this episode in my life. So glad to get home last night and see Myler. The last 11 days have been hard on Mik'L and I.

Looking forward to a little recovery phase and then I'll try to get ready to run a good half at Bryce and TOU... and that's that. 

Planned rest day. Wanted to relax after this race so I'll take a couple off. Legs are pretty sore though so running would be hard. I guess that's what happens when you cramp up at mile 4 and then keep pushing for 22 more miles. 

Did some comparison from Ojai marathon to the Modesto marathon. Keep in mind Modesto is basically pancake flat but had perfect cool conditions and Ojai has some downhill but had really humid, sticky conditions.  At Modesto I felt so in the groove for the first 17 miles then ok through 21 and really bad the last 4 for sure.

At Ojai I never felt smooth or in any groove. It was a total grind but even during the last mile when I was struggling I didn't feel as awful as I did the last 4 miles at Modesto when my stomach was cramping and I was dry heaving and needed to throw up.

Through the first 13 miles I was only 3 seconds faster at Ojai and after 14 miles my time was exactly the same at both races. And the bulk of the elevation loss is all in the first 12 miles.

Through mile 20 I was 43 seconds faster at Ojai

Through mile 26 I was 1:34

and the final difference was 1:54 faster at Ojai

So in review if I could run a race where I could feel good like at Modesto but not get sick and then grind out the finish like at Ojai... then maybe I'd run a race where I'd be totally happy with the results. Because things just never felt good at Ojai I never could use the downhill to really aid my time... otherwise I think through 20 miles I would have been 2-3 mins faster instead of 43 seconds.

I guess you can second guess things forever but this is kind of my review.

I didn't want to run today  but- After taking yesterday off and having no luck loosening up in the legs I decided to run today. It seems that time off is great but the only thing that helps loosen up my sore legs is running. So just took it EZ on the treadmill while watching PTI. 

Ran with Heath this morning over by his house. Did a loop through the fields. Ran just over 8 min mile pace with him but on the 3rd mile I told him to pick it up for a mini tempo. He hit that mile in 7:26. He's running great and getting in the miles everyday. Looking forward to seeing his progress thru Oct 6. Nice and cool out this morning at 57 F. 

Felt worse today than yesterday. On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being the worst- I'd say I'm about a 9.5 at soreness and fatigue. Just dead in every part of my day. Crazy because after the Modesto marathon in March I was only at like a 4 out of 10. With this race not even being a full 2 min's faster I'm not sure it was worth the trade off. 

Oh well. Wanted to actually go shorter this morning but in the middle needed a potty stop and had to go on a little bigger loop to get to the closest stop at that point. No plans to run again the rest of the day. 

Same run as yesterday. Felt slightly better but still rolled a gutter ball. So so tired last night I couldn't sleep- I know that sounds crazy but it's a place you don't want to visit. 

Levins wins double titles at NCAA's!

In other uneventful news I ran an EZ half marathon this morning in a 7:06 avg. 

Looped around the DC then extended through LV. Quads weren't sore but they just didn't feel good. Kind of tight and useless. Cooler temps again this morning 60 F. But I think summer is gonna stop messing around and start using the brass knuckles. I'd take more of this great weather but it just won't last. 

Really a grind this morning. Started out doing one 2.4 mile loop around the park with our new big dog named "Ears". She was done at about mile 2 and so was I... brought her home and then went over to the river but the trail was blocked while they are repairing the burnt bridge so I looped back through the north end of B-hills and a little extension into LV. Just had to put one foot in front of the other this morning. Robotic, stiff and overall just felt kind of funky. The bright side is that we got another AMAZING morning for mid-June.  57 F when the sun came up!

Guys run here. Did one mile before the guys showed. Regular loop with the Circle of Trust. EZ and slow this morning. Good to get out one some normal runs after 3 weeks of craziness. Got home and took Ears out for another 5k. She was done after about 2 miles so the last one was slow. She had to stop for a potty in the street and then a drink in the gutter later on. 

Over to the river but the bridge was closed again. So back up the river and around Stone Cliff. This run felt like it was 19 miles and not 12.5 but that's how it goes. Did it all out in the sun and was pretty dehydrated when I got home with temp already at 80 F. 

Mik'L is out of town and I wasn't in the mood to push Myler out in the heat. Plus I tore out my driveway today and with the help of Shatch we got half of it poured. Big big day of back breaking work. I'm sure I burned more calories working than I would have out running 20 miles. 

Another day with Mik'L gone and I just didn't want to get up way early and get Myler up to push him in the jogger. So I guess this week is what I wanted originally after Ojai marathon.... a little rest and break from hard mileage. Spent basically the entire day moving the rubble from the old driveway and building a wall with it down in the ditch by my house. I feel like I need a body cast from my toes to my neck.... everything hurts and I'm only half way done!

DC loop. Out early. Mik'L and I had to switch running times. Now I'll go before her the rest of the summer. Which means I need to be home by 6:30-7. Not too bad of a run for a Monday. However after not running since Thursday it took most of the run to find any kind of stride and I had a lot of junk in the system. 

Poured the other side of the driveway today. Temps said it hit 106 F at the Little Valley weather station one mile from my house. But aside from the heat the job went great. Steve Hatch (Shatch) is a super craftsman and managed the project like a pro. I'm very thankful for all his help. 

4 miles on the treadmill this evening. 

DC then Stone Cliff back up to River Road and home. 7:15 avg. I wore the gps today to see just how slow the pace was. I don't care but needed a visual to clarify. Not as slow as if feels like I'm going right now. I think I'm still a couple weeks out from really feeling like rolling again. 

More work today on the driveway. Cut the lines in the second side. Lots of landscape projects around the whole area. And spent some time working on the rubble and ditch project. That one will take a while but a little work a day will start to show some progress. Felt dehydrated and kind of sick just after noon. Came in and showered off me and Myler then we both had a solid hour nap. 

4.9 out and around Silkwood this afternoon. It was sunny and very hot. I hated it.

Boys run at my house. Did .7 with Logan (who I found a sleep in his truck) before Dave and Hoopy showed up. Then the regular DC loop at so so pace. Not fast but not super slow either. Then when I got home I took Ears around the park loop for 2.4 more. 

It was hot this morning and started out at 77 F at 5:30 a.m and just got warmer. I was pretty dehydrated at then end and in need of some salt. 

4.9 out around Silkwood again. 103 F when I went out... you can visualize just how awesome that must have been.

DC loop then around Stonecliff back to River Road and home for 13.3. Then I picked up Ears and did the 2.4 mile park loop. Felt so so most of the run but started to get hot by the end as the sun came up. Once I got Ears the pace really slowed as neither one of us wanted to push it. 

2.7 miles on the treadmill. It was 107 F outside and on the street I'm sure it was much hotter. I couldn't go out anyways because Mik'L had a meeting. So while Myler played I logged some super EZ miles in the garage. 

DC loop early. Only needed 10 this morning and had sooo much to do in the yard. So I got up early and pushed through it. Temps were hot and dry. I normally don't get cotton mouth but today I had it pretty bad. Stopped for a drink at the DC and slugged the rest of it out. 

Driveway project is basically all done. New drive is all done- colored, cut, cleaned and just needs to be sealed. All the rubble and mess from the old drive is just about done in my ditch project. I built some big retaining walls out of them and then back filled to add about 10 extra feet to that side of the lot. Another couple hours and it'll be done. I just couldn't lift one more chunk today and got cooked up by the heat. It's been a long long week for Superfly. I can't remember when I've worked so hard physically before accompanied by a 100 mile week of running... when it's 100+ outside. I'm taking the boat to the lake everyday next week if the wind dies down...

20 mile run down the STG course from around 17 miles up the course down to the finish then back up the last 3. Hit a 6:07 avg for the run. Didn't feel like hammering anything today but hit some faster times. Got out fast as Steve and Aaron pushed the pace from the second we got out of the vehicles. So no real warm up just right into it. Only really happy that the week is over and I got my 100 mile week in for June. Now I just hope my quads handle this (the first real downhill training) good and that I can run regular next week. 

Sore. I didn't want to get too sore on Saturdays run down the course.... Backfire. The legs were super sore on Sunday. Even my calves which typically don't hurt running the STG course. Quads were sore to the touch too. So this mornings run was in question to start with. Took it super EZ but tried to keep the form straight and square. Was surprised to see that I ran the loop in a 7:05 avg. It felt at least a min per mile slower. Guessing the first couple runs or days this week will be semi recovery. 

DC loop then back around the park after coming up River Road. Legs were sore again. Saturdays run was one of the dumbest training moves for me in a while. I was barely only 70% recovered from Ojai marathon anyways... then went and did a semi hard 20 miler down the marathon course. Dumb dumb. 

So with the heavy soreish legs the run was a battle and pace was slow. 7:10 avg. 

4.9 mile Silkwood run. Hot and a pretty strong headwind made this a hard run. Plus the 3 chicken pot pies I cooked up and ate solo at lunch didn't sit well.

3 early miles

10.2 miles on the regular loop with Logan. Pretty EZ run and was pleased to see a 7:00 avg for the run. Quads are still very knotted up. I feel like Forest Gump when he has the metal braces on his legs and it just wont let him "go". I'm wishing I could break free from the soreness and tightness and break those braces so I could Run Forest run!

P.M 4.9 miles on the Slickwood run. Another hot one. 105 F and windy. Wind was coming from the west and this run is mostly north and south so the crosswind kind of helped cool or dry or dehydrate... not sure. Quads felt like it was the last mile of a horrible marathon. Guys- I need ya back soon!

Early morning run with Logan. It was hot out. At 6 a.m we were just about at mile 9 and passed the Summit Athletic Club. It was 6:03 a.m and 81 F. We both felt the need for a cool beverage and were happy the run was over in the end. 6:57 avg. 

Quads felt much better than last night but no where close to normal. It's just a day to day project keeping this ship afloat. 

3 more miles this afternoon around the park and back up into LV. Hot and hammered.

Logan came over early and we did the normal DC loop in reverse. No watch but pace was regular. A little cooler this morning made the run seem much easier than yesterday. Finished it off then got home and pack up to head out to the lake for  a few hours this morning. 

Got to Quail Creek and the water was almost glass. Just a couple other boats out. I went first on the wake board and hit a couple nice jumps as I was getting going.... then on my third attempt I got off balance in the air and landed funny. Either broke or majorly sprained my right ankle. For me it's the worst ankle injury ever. Swelling and pain. It's gut check time... hope and pray I'm not out. RICE- rest, ice, compression, elevation

Ankle was way too jacked up to mess with running. Swollen- black and blue. So long good time at Bryce...

Tried the wrapping tobacco around the swollen ankle trick last night. Slept with it. Work this morning and it felt a little better and a lot of the black and blue bruising had gone away.

I had to try and run on it.... Went out around the park loop. Couldn't put any weight on it so was basically running on my toe on the right side and really working the left side hard to compensate. Had a couple scary points where it shifted under a rock and sent sharp pains racing. Got home and tried the treadmill for another 2.6 miles. It was slow but felt better because the platform was smooth and predictable- plus I set the deck to have a little bounce in it for relief. I guess worst case is that I can only do like 5 miles a day on the machine until the pain goes away. 

Starting to write off Bryce from a racing point of view. I already paid for the race and room and can't get refunds on either. So maybe we'll just go watch? Honestly this sucks!

Decided to try running again. Did 3 miles on the treadmill and the ankle felt so so. Not great but no super sharp pain. So after Mik'L got home from her run I decide to go out on the street and try a few more. Headed out on the Silkwood run. Weight distribution and timing were way off and the run was laboring. Had a couple sharp pains and then another about .5 from the finish that seemed to have a lasting "hurt". Starting to think this run wasn't a great idea. Ankle is a little less swollen but still bruised up. No X-ray yet but I did have a Dr. look at it and through his mobility and resistance exam he didn't think it was broken but a very bad sprain (sometimes worse than a brake). Sucks to be me. 

1.5 on the Treadmill then out around the middle BH loop and extended through the Secret St. Felt so so again on the ankle. No really shape pains so that was good but I stayed focused the entire run as not to let any extra weight flow to either side. 

Spent the 4th working in the yard just finishing off about 10 little projects that have eluded me for a few weeks. Then went to the Holts for a BBQ pool party. Had nice cool weather with some slight rain drops here and there. Too bad we didn't have this weather when we were out running at say... club.

Decided to brave the DC loop today without any warm up on the treadmill. It was a painful slow run but I made it around the loop alive. Ankle still sits at around a 7 out of 10 on the pain scale and all out running seems weeks away. But my limp/ running stride seems to be working and allowing me to 1. get out and mentally relax on a run everyday, 2. Keep somewhat in shape as my weight isn't too bad even though I'm still eating for 3 people, 3. Keep somewhat of a normal schedule with the body and leg muscles so that when I'm able to "run free" there shouldn't be a big re-training cycle. IDK. 

Humid this morning with temps starting at 72 F around sun up. But after doing the run I decided that whatever it feels like compared to normal... I like this better. 

Up in Torrey for the weekend. Ran around town a couple times. Took Ears out and back a couple miles and then went back out alone to finish up. The ankle isn't black and blue anymore and the swelling is going down... but the pain seems to be higher. 

Today there was the Apple days 5k. But I didn't run. I looped through town and ran by the starting line as people were registering and warming up. Just decided it wasn't a good idea with the ankle. By the time this run was over it was hurting pretty bad. Seems to be hurting worse everyday. 

Most likely taking the day totally off. I've got a serious ankle injury and it's going to be some time before I'm running big mileage and fast races again. Bryce is officially "out". I'm just really hoping TOU half is still a possibility. 

Taking another day totally off. Yesterday my ankle felt better than it has since the injury. I planned on running today but in the night it really throbbed. Swelling is around 70% of what it was at the full swell. So there is still a lot of improvement to be made. 

I'm getting fat.

4 miles on the treadmill this morning. Running on the machine seems to feel the best. Sad but true. Nice and smooth foot strikes every time. It's been super hot. 116 F on Tuesday and 113 F today. Not fun to be working out on a back yard. I've been helping a friend with some landscaping- dirt, sprinkler, sod, curb, block wall ect...

Sasha called me last night and said he was in town and wanted to do a run. So he and Benjamin came over at 5:30 a.m and we hit up the B-hills middle loop. Benny waited at the B-hills church while Sasha and I looped down by the river. 

It was good to chit chat with those guys. It's been a long time since I ran with Sasha (maybe 5 years). Anyways a good run. EZ and slow on the sore ankle. 7:32 avg for the run. 

Ankle feels runnable. Maybe a 6 out of 10. So I'm not taking anymore days off. I'll just run on it and hope that sooner than later I'll be able to train again.

Out and back over to the DC. It rained hard in the night and seemed to be so refreshing to run through town and see all the wet/ soaked streets. But it made things really humid. I didn't leave until after Mik'L got home at just after 7. But I'll take it! What a nice break from the super hot, sunny and painful summer weather we've been having.

As for the run. No watch but pace was honest. Faster than yesterdays 7:30ish avg- I'm guessing I was just under 7 min avg. The ankle is about the same on the pain scale. Running on the left side of the road kills and making right turns hurts worse too. It's still about a size and a half bigger than the other ankle too. But I'm happy and blessed to be out running and very thankful for the rain. 

Since I couldn't run Bryce today and SHatch couldn't either I was able to run with him down the course. His longest run so far was 15 so upping the mileage to 18 was a big step but very doable. We just took it EZ and had a super nice run down the STG course in July. Rain almost the entire run and temps in the 60's. Unheard of! Maybe the best mid summer run ever for me here in STG as far as temps and conditions go. Heath did great too only struggling a little and really no walk breaks. 

My ankle and system felt pretty good all things considered. Lots of Wintercrest and a slower pace helped.