Cool Runnings!

AM - no running

PM - ran 8 miles outside.  It was quite nice - upper 50's.  Wore shorts and a singlet with a technical tee on top - plenty warm, although my hands got a little cold (kind of hard to write as of this moment).  Legs felt a little dead, probably from the lack of sleep.  Lungs felt good.  Total time for the run was 1:01:27, average pace of 7:41/mile.  I had a hard time maintaining a steady pace - I was fluctuating from between 7:30-7:50/mile.  I also attribute that to lack of sleep.  Planning on getting a good night's sleep tonight, and then will plan on another 8 miler tomorrow. 

Ran 8 miles on the treadmill this evening, nice easy pace.  First 1.25 miles at 8:30 pace, the rest at 8:00 pace.  Total time of 1:04:38, average pace of 8:05/mile.  Wasn't feeling 100% before the run and was just going to do a couple and go from there, but felt good during the run.  However, afterwards I don't feel so hot.  Although I took it easy, this may have pushed me over the edge (again!).  I will have to see how I feel in the morning.

So, after a protracted absense (read: 3 days, not including Sunday) due to my Christmas bug hitting me again (I think I got back into the groove too quickly after Christmas and didn't give my body a chance to fully recover), I am back in the saddle again.  6 easy miles on the treadmill after the boys went to bed, while Lybi tried to run with Christine (I am sorry about your leg, honey).  First two miles (or was it the first three?) at 8:30 pace, then increase the pace to 8:00 pace.  Decided not to go any faster than that to make sure I don't overdo it again.  I have come to the following conclusions:

 1) my body is quite sensitive to illness, and when I attempt to push my body when I am slightly ill, I will, without fail, get sicker.

2) I need to listen more closely to my body.

 The rest of this week will be easy miles (I promise!), and then I will see how things are from there.  No tempo miles until I am fully recovered and my body feels good (i.e. horses are neighing).

 

Another day on the old treadmill.  Didn't have time run more than 5 miles today.  Took it easy again, warmed up for a mile or so at 8:30 pace, then bumped the speed up to 8:00 pace.  It took a bit of willpower to not go faster, but I remembered my promise from yesterday to myself to keep all my miles this week easy.

Didn't get enough sleep again last night, but I feel pretty good today in spite of that. Still need to get to bed earlier, though. Ran 8 miles on the old "tredder", warmed up a mile at 8:30 pace, then ran the last 7 miles at 8:00 pace. Finished watching Stardust, then watched one of the season 3 episodes of "Doctor Who". Loved it! We missed out on season 3, saw some of season 4, but I am going to make sure I get to see them all. Feel good, illness seems to be gone except for some lingering stuffiness in my nose that may be more due to allergies.  Did some light stretching, then did my core exercises.

Bliss!  I got to run outside this evening for a bit, and it felt oh so joyful!  4 miles so far this evening, each mile faster than the previous (not intentional, except for maybe the last one).  Total time of 29:23, average pace of 7:20/mile.  Last mile at MP in 7:05.  Stretched out nicely after then run, I will run another 4-5 miles a bit later in the evening.

Oooh, after running on the treadmill for most of this week, I have gained a greater appreciation for running outside!  I was able to run outside this afternoon again, and it felt really good, especially after having gotten enough sleep.  Started off at about 7:30 pace, but it felt good, not hard.  Decided to keep going at that pace.  When I hit the 5 mile turnaround point, I was at 37:37, just 7 seconds over averaging exactly 7:30/mile.  Decided to pick up the pace a little bit, then at 6 miles decided I wanted to get some MP miles in.  Next 4 miles at about MP, 7:14, 7:11, 7:01, 7:18 (I hadn't planned on this being a MP mile, but it ended up being that way by accident).  Stretched out, then went inside and took a shower.  Total time was 1:13:52, average pace of 7:23/mile.

AM - got to sleep in a bit, as I had to do some troubleshooting with our network team from home.

PM - ran on the dreadmill, 6 miles.  Warmed up first .5 at 8:30 pace, belt seemed to be catching a bit, so I decided to increase the pace to 7:30/mile to see if it helped.  It did, a little, at least I didn't seem to be getting thrown off balance.   At the 1 mile mark, was getting sick of the treadmill already, so I decided to turn the run into a 1/2 MP tempo run.  Increased speed to 6:40/mile, ran that pace for 4 miles, no problems, then decided to bump the speed up to 6:00/mile (max on my treadmill) for as long as I felt good.  Stayed at that pace for 1/2 mile, then cooled down 1/2 mile at 8:30 pace.  Total time for the run was 41:59, average pace of 7:00/mile.  Felt good, but glad to be off the treadmill.  I need to find a different time to run.  Lybi runs every evening with Christine at 8:45, which forces me to stay home with the boys.  I either need to a) start running early in the morning again, which I don't particularly want to do, because my achilles is always stiff in the morning, b) run as soon as I get home from work, which is difficult for Lybi because she is usually teaching piano lessons, c) run after dinner but before family scripture study (7:30) or d) continue to run on the treadmill.  AARRGH!

Ran 0.8 with Sparky, then 6.2 on my own outside.  I had tried to fix the treadmill, but was unable to get it to work.  Not that I minded running outside . . .

Legs felt a little dead today on the run, both as a result of the lack of sleep as well as the tempo run yesterday.  Still felt pretty good, and every time I tried to slow down, my legs automatically sped up again.  So I just decided to run whatever pace my legs wanted to.  Time with Sparky was 6:03, time for the 6.2 miles was 46:47, total average pace of right around 7:33/mile. 

Well, I got my new Axioms today, so I decided I would take them out for a spin.  Headed out, and discovered the wind was blowing pretty good.  In spite of that, after having warmed up the first mile, I started running at MP starting at the second mile (partly because the wind was at my back at the time).  I thought, might as well get in some MP miles.  Miles 3 and 4 were into the wind and were pretty difficult, but I pressed on.  Miles 5 and 6 were then with the wind mostly at my back, and were much easier.  As I was finishing the 6th mile, I saw a dog-like animal streak across the road in front of me and run down the direction I was going to be heading.  This kind of freaked me out since it was dark and I couldn't see well, plus the wind was really blowing hard directly in my face, so I turned off that road and went back home a different route.  After 6 miles at MP or faster, I cooled down for 1.2 miles.  When I got home, I turned around and took Sparky out for .8 miles to make a total of 9 miles today.  The shoes felt pretty good.  They are definitely lighter than the Adrenalines.  I will plan on using them for my 1/2 marathon in February, and will also plan on using them for long tempo runs.

Ran in the evening after dinner.  Sasha is right, eating the right food makes a big difference in terms of how quickly after dinner one is able to eat.  I ran about 30 minutes after dinner, no problem at all during the run with my stomach.  Tried to make this an easy recovery run.  Went a different way than normal, and after going through some construction zones where there was barely enough room to run, decided that it was not a good area to run, turned around and headed off another way to get in some more miles before I turned back for home.  The run felt very good - it was a nice stress reliever from a very difficult day at work.  Total distance was 7 miles, total time was 53:52, average pace of 7:42/mile.  I am happy with this run.

I'll keep this entry short so I can go to bed.  Ran 8 miles while Lybi watched Pirates of the Caribbean 3 with Holly.  The first 6 miles felt good, then I started to get kind of tired.  Probably again from lack of sleep.  I also pushed it on the last mile just so I could get home.  Total time for the run was 59:15, average pace of 7:24/mile.  Planning on a long run tomorrow - either 12 or 13 miles, which will put me at either 49 or 50 miles for the week.  It is actually amazing to me how 8 miles doesn't even phase me any more - it seems so commonplace, whereas even this time last year, I would have considered it to be a medium-long distance run.  I think that says something to me about my level of fitness.  Depending on how I feel tomorrow, I may attempt to put in an 8 mile tempo at or below MP.

Medium-long run for the week, 12 miles.  Was originally hoping to get my run in this afternoon, but that did not work out.  I had to be at the pinewood derby for our cub scouts since I am a webelos leader, and that took longer than I thought it would.  The run was interesting.  Lybi and I went out to eat early this evening, and finished at about 6:30.  I headed out for my run at 9:00, and could still feel my dinner.  Of course, there was some fatty food, and I also probably ate too much.  So I had some abdominal discomfort (just a little) for about the first half of the run.  I should have known better :)  Hit the first half in 45:34, just a little slower than 7:30 pace.  Decided to pick up the pace just a tad to try to average 7:30 for the entire run.  However, once I hit the 8 mile mark, my body wanted to be home, and I ended up picking up the pace a bit more.  This is where two of my MP miles were - 7:14 and 7:11.  After a 11th mile of 7:20, I kicked it into gear, and hit my last mile in 6:53.  I was huffing and puffing at the end, I was tired, but glad to have the run complete.  49 miles for the week, and feeling good.  I should be able to top 50 miles next week, then start preparing for my 1/2 marathon.  Congratulations to all the FRB'ers who ran Painter's and did so well, I am so proud of all of you!  Lybi and I wish we could have been there, but it was not to be this year.

Boy and I tired - I spent most of the day removing the toilet and taking up the vinyl floor from our boys' bathroom so that I could put in new flooring.  It was much more difficult and exhausting than I had anticipated.  It has taken forever to get the old flooring completely removed from the sub-floor, including all the adhesive.  I am still not done, but I was sore and tired and had to stop.  Lybi is also going to repaint the walls, and I also had to replace a section of the drywall because it had gotten a bit moldy due to water.  Luckily there did not appear to be mold damage on the wood (as far as I could tell).  So, on to my run.  Ran 1.2 miles earlier in the day with Sam and Joey, untimed, then ran another 5.3 this evening to make a total of 6.5 miles for the day.  Averaged 7:34/mile for the 5.3 mile run, amazingly.  I was sure I was going to be running super slow, but then I got into a nice rhythm, and it felt good.  I was not checking the Garmin to see how fast I was running, I just kept going.  Legs started out feeling pretty heavy, but got better as the run went on.  My lower back is still sore from all the bending over, and I am due for another appointment with my chiropractor, but I am happy with what I accomplished today.

PM - ran 1.4 miles with Samuel, no time, then 0.6 with Joseph also untimed, then another 0.8 with Sparky in 6:00 (7:30 pace).  Then took off on my own.  The horses were really neighing in spite of some muscle soreness in the back of my legs, so I obliged them.  Ended up hitting 10K pace for 3 miles before slowing down for the last 1.2 miles.  Splits were 6:40, 6:22 and 6:27, then slowed down to 7:30'ish pace for the rest.  Total time for the 4.2 miles on the Garmin was 28:26, average pace of 6:46/mile.  I am feeling pretty good.  The rest of this week will be easy runs, I think, so that I feel fresh for this weekend, and I will hopefully attempt an 8 mile tempo at 1/2 MP during my long run.  We'll see how that goes.

Easy run today.  1.35 miles with Samuel at 12:48 pace, then another 4.65 miles later in the evening at 7:35 pace.  Legs felt a little dead after yesterday's barnburner, and I am feeling a bit of pain deep in the back of my right leg when I run too slowly.  Not sure exactly what it is, but I will work on doing some additional stretches, and I have an appointment with my chiropractor for Friday, so I should be able to get it sorted out.

Ran 5 miles this afternoon before Webelos, average pace of 7:27/mile.  Decided this would be all I would do today, as my piriformis has been quite sore.  Since I am scheduled for my chiro appt tomorrow, I wanted to take it easy today and get adjusted tomorrow.  I am certain that my pelvis is out, along with probably most of my back and neck.  Lybi also showed me her piriformis stretch, and boy, could I feel it!  I am going to keep doing that after I run in addition to the other stretches I do.  I also need to get back on board with my core exercises.

Ran 9.5 miles this evening, weather was a balmy 57 degrees.  Wore shorts with a singlet and long-sleeve technical tee on top - I still broke a pretty good sweat.  Ran out to the local HS track in a roundabout way, then ran 2 miles on the track, the second of which was at 1/2 MP - 6:47.  My legs felt kind of flat, the second mile was somewhat difficult - at least more difficult than I had anticipated.  Prolly due to lack of sleep and the piriformis issue.  After the 2 miles at the track, ran back home via the same roundabout way, glad to get the run over with.  Went to the chiro today and got adjusted, also got heat and stim on my piriformis - that felt good.  Going to keep doing the stretches, and he also showed me an additional stretch that I can do for my piriformis.

Oh. My. Gosh.  I don't remember the last time my legs felt so dead, and I felt so out of sync on my run.  6 miles at 7:29 pace, but I was really fighting it today.  Everything was off-kilter, including my breathing.  Then again, I spent 2 hours this morning running around at our ward activity, then I spent several hours this evening in unnatural positions while I was painting our boys' bathroom.  I guess it makes sense, but it was really frustrating.  I was hoping to do 8-10 miles this evening - I had no illusions about doing my 8 mile tempo run as originally planned, but even 8 miles was too much for my poor old legs today.  After I got back from my run, I took Sparky out for another mile in 8:30.  Legs feel bone-weary.  I am going to take it easy this next week - just 6 miles/day so that I feel fresh for my 1/2 marathon.

Ran 1.5 miles with Sparky at about 7:30 pace (yes, we are keeping the dog, we have set some boundaries, and are going to work with him on barking at the neighbors - none of the animal rescue shelters would take him, and the only other option was the pound, which we did not want to do).  Ran another mile with Samuel - worked with him to help him understand he can do much more than he thinks he can - held his hand and had him run faster than he normally does to teach him that his body can handle the faster speed.  Sometimes I think he needs to understand the concept of being less than comfortable when he exercises.  That was the point of this lesson.  He ended up doing the mile about 1 1/2 minutes faster than he ever has before - just slightly more than 11 minutes.  That is with the first 1/4 mile at about 13:00 pace as well.  I was proud of him for hanging in there.  Then another 0.5 miles with Joseph at just over 12:00 pace.  I was proud of him as well for doing a good job.  Then we had family home evening about testimony, played red light/green light, and then got the boys ready for bed with their nightly Harry Potter reading.  We are on the second book right now - I try to make it more entertaining by doing impressions of the voices.  After the boys were done, I headed out for another 3 miles.  I started pushing the tempo shortly after I started, because I remembered I had to go to the bathroom, and I didn't want to turn around and go back.  Was a bit worried after 1 mile, turned around, and really picked up the pace.  First mile was 6:55, second mile was 6:21, and that was with the wind blowing in my face a bit.  Got home just in time to hit the restroom, then went back out for what was supposed to be a cooldown mile, but it ended up being at 6:59.  Oops.  It actually did feel pretty good compared to the second mile.  I guess once my legs get used to a certain pace, it's hard to get them to slow down until they are spent.  Total time for the 3 miles was 20:15, average pace of exactly 6:45/mile.

Ran 1.5 miles with Sparky at about 7:30 pace, then 1 mile with Sam slightly slower than yesterday.  He did not hold my hand once, and did a great job.  He was only about 15 seconds slower than yesterday.  Another 0.6 miles with Joey, then ran another 3.1 miles later in the evening, after Lybi had gone running with Christine, at around 7:30 pace as well.  In between, I was working on putting our new vinyl tile floor in the boys' bathroom.  Not completely done, but it looks pretty darn good.  We're going to try to get it finished tonight so that I can put the toilet back in tomorrow night.  Woohoo!

Ran 1.5 miles with Sparky at about 7:30 pace, then ran 1 mile with Samuel at just under 12:00 pace (the wind was blowing fairly hard), then ran 0.6 with Joseph at about 13:00 pace.  Finally got the toilet put back on the bathroom floor, and made sure everything was working properly (at least it sure seems like it - if something is not working right, we have a few plumbers in our ward that I can call for help), then caulked around the toilet, bathtub and sink cabinets (there were tiny gaps between the bottom of the cabinet and the edge of the vinyl tile that we wanted to seal up).  I don't envy people who work in construction all day - it is not for me.  It is enough that I understand how to do this stuff - we will eventually be remodeling our master bathroom and putting tile in, and that will be a much larger undertaking.  But that won't be until all our debt except the mortgage and car loan are paid off.  Back to running, after all that stuff was done, went out for a quick 3 miles.  First mile in 7:13, second mile in 7:00, final mile in 6:43, average pace of 6:59/mile.  Need to make sure when I run the half that I work on proper form, including popping off my toes - I can really feel an increase in power when I do that.

Big fat zero for today's miles.  My knee was feeling kind of achy below the kneecap, and hurt when I ran, so I stayed home and iced it.  That seems to have helped.  Nothing big, just didn't want to take any risks this close to my race.

4 easy miles today at about 7:48 pace.  Felt very easy, no problems with the knee.  Went to my chiropractor again today to get adjusted before the race, so this was kind of a shake-out run to make sure everything was in working order.  Looking forward to tomorrow.  Here are my goals:

Gold:  1:28

Silver:  1:30

Bronze:  1:32

I feel like if everything goes right, I should be able to break 1:28 - that would be about 6:40/mile.  My current plan is to start out at 6:45/mile and see how that feels.  If it feels good, I will speed up and hold it for as long as I can.
 

London's Run - 1/2 marathon. 14th place overall, 2nd place in my age division. Was doing very well until mile 11, then I DIED! Went from 7th place to 14th place. More to follow later.

Time for more details.  Warmed up about a mile or so, not sure about the distance.  Temperature was a balmy 40 degrees at the start - actually felt very good.  Splits are below, along with explanations:

Mile 1 - 6:30	Went out a little too fast, but felt good.
Mile 2 - 6:42	This was just about perfect for the time, but the surface was absolutely deplorable.  Big huge tire tracks and ruts everywhere.  One of the other runners said his friend stepped in a hole and had to be carried back to the start.  I got lucky, but felt my  ankles turn a couple of times.
Mile 3 - 6:43	Right on time, felt good.  Was running into a slight headwind this mile.
Mile 4 - 6:42	Felt easier than the previous mile.  I was holding steady in 7th place at this point.  Dirt road for the first portion, then onto the only section that was paved road.  When we turned onto the paved road, we turned back into a slight headwind again.
Mile 5 - 6:40	Turned around on the road, the wind was behind us, this was the second fastest mile after the first mile.  Moved into 6th place for a short time, then had another person pass me to put me back into 7th.
Mile 6 - 6:49	Another large portion of this mile was into the wind.  Nothing special about this mile.
Mile 7 - 6:48	Nothing special about this mile.
Mile 8 - 6:47	You can see that my miles have been slowing down a bit, although not too much.
Mile 9 - 6:54	Slowing down a bit more
Mile 10 - 7:00	Slowing down more again.  Feeling tired in my legs.
Mile 11 - 7:20	Feeling more tired.  This is the last mile that was relatively normal.
Mile 12 - 8:25	Fell apart on this mile.  I actually stopped to walk for a bit at the water station until I was done drinking.  Then I started back up again.  Legs were very tired, feet were hurting, lungs were burning.
Mile 13 - 7:34	I honestly don't know how I managed to pull out a 7:34 mile on this mile.  I was really suffering here.
Last 0.31 miles - 2:14	My Garmin measured the course about .20 long.  I was pretty good about hitting tangents well.  In any case, I was absolutely spent when I finished, although Lybi said I didn't look as bad here as I did when finishing SGM.  I suppose that's a good thing.

Total time was 1:33:15.  Didn't meet any of my goals, but still felt good about this run.  I also felt like I did very well for the first 10 or so mile, and can now work on my endurance to improve the last 3 miles.  I have high hopes for Striders in April, and think I will definitely be able to improve on my time.

First to explain the sleep - I took a huge nap yesterday afternoon cuz I wasn't feeling too hot, so I had a hard time falling asleep.  Plus I was close to finishing a new book called The Long Walk (good book, very riveting), so I stayed up to finish it.  Felt much better today, ran 1.5 miles with Sam, then had to go to round table for scouts.  Got back at 9:30, decided I needed to get in a run, so I went for another 4 miles.  Felt good to get out after having 3 goose eggs in a row - Monday was a scheduled rest day after the 1/2, Tuesday and Wednesday I wasn't feeling very good, and I don't have a good record with trying to run when I am on the verge of getting sick - I just end up getting sicker.  Glad to be back in the saddle again.

6 easy miles in the evening after the boys went to bed.  My feet are still not 100% recovered from my 1/2 marathon - did I mention I had gotten extremely bad blood blisters on the outside of my big toes (both feet)?  I had punctured the one on my right foot - it was about the size of a quarter and putting a lot of pressure on my foot when I wore shoes - but left the two smaller ones on my left foot alone.  They are still not healed, but are certainly better than  they were.  Average pace for today's run was 7:29/mile.  Ran a different route, and had to run on quite a bit of sidewalk - my feet and legs felt the pounding more, and my legs didn't feel real peppy, but not real dead either.  I seem to be over my illness - just a bit of residual coughing - and the weather is finally starting to warm up again.  Supposed to be in the mid 70's tomorrow.  All you Utah bloggers, pay no attention to the weather here!  Actually, it just means I have absolutely no basis for complaining about the weather here until it gets over 100 degrees in the summer.  Lybi is running a 5K tomorrow - if Sam is feeling better we will all go and cheer her on.  There is another 10K next weekend that I may run, depending on where it is and what the course is like.

A side note:  I had something sort of amusing happen to me on my run.  I stopped at an intersection waiting for the light to change, and a Scion xB (the boxy car) pulled up alongside me at the light.  There were 3 or 4 teenagers in the car, and they opened the window and started talking to me.  Then they stuck their arms outside the windows and said "hey, we're going to run with you" and started pumping their arms back and forth.  One of them asked me how far I was going to run, and when I told them 6 miles, said he probably couldn't run 1/2 mile, he was so fat.  Then the light changed, and they started yelling, "come on, keep up".  Regardless of how they intended it to be (I don't know if they meant to be friendly or derogatory), I kind of got a kick out of it and found it amusing.

Wow, what a disappointing run.  I headed out at 3:00 - the weather was absolutely gorgeous - mid-70's, clear sky, a little breezy.  I was all excited about getting in somewhere around 15 miles.  After just a couple miles, however, reality set in.  I realized my legs felt dead, I had forgotten to put on my bodyglide (can you say chafing?), and I was already feeling tired.  I decided to do 10 miles instead.  Turned around at the 5 mile mark, had to stop at a gas station at 6 miles and get a drink.  At 8 miles, I realized I was in serious trouble with chafing, and was feeling a fair amount of pain.  At the 8.5 mile mark, I decided to take a shortcut that would put me in at 9.5 miles.  At the 9 mile mark, I decided to stop and walk the last 1/2 mile home because the chafing was so bad.  So I totally wimped out, I felt like this was one of the worst runs I have had in a long time.  Oh well, I am not going to dwell on it, but will press on.  For our date tonight, Lybi and I are going to go to the worldwide broadcast.  Not sure what to expect.

Ran two miles with my boys and Sparky when I got home from work - 1.5 miles with Sam and Sparky, then another .5 miles with Joey and Sparky. No recorded distance for running with Adam. I will need to get in some more miles this evening.

Later that evening . . .

Ran another 4 miles after Lybi got back from her run with Christine.  Ran without the Garmin, just with my regular watch.  Kinda sorta checked my splits - I glanced at the watch when I was reasonably sure I had just hit the mile split.  This ended up being a progression run of sorts, since each mile was faster than the previous.  Last .1 I kicked into 10K race pace and worked on my form - lifting the knee, pushing off with the toe - and away I went.  I was suitably impressed at how quickly my pace increased just by those few things.  Anyway, total time for the run was 29:08, average pace of 7:17/mile. 

Ran 3.5 miles after work with all my boys and Sparky, each one separately. Ran 1.5 miles with Sam, I think he set a new record for the time. Then ran 0.5 with Joey. Ran an unnamed distance with Adam, then came back and took Sparky for 1.5 miles at a nice 7:30 pace. Lybi has practice for her piano Cavalcade event until 8:30, so I will have to do the other 4 or so miles when she gets back (and probably after she runs with Christine). Need to work on getting to bed earlier tonight - I was tired this morning, and am a little concerned that I might be starting to get sick again. I will have to wait and see.

Ran another mile with the 3 boys in the jogging stroller (man, they are getting heavy), and Sparky on the side.  Did not time the run.  One kind of scary incident where Sparky decided to stop paying attention to the stroller and start growling at a couple of dogs - he got his foot or leg or something like that run over by the wheel of the stroller.  I think he learned his lesson, though :)  This mile really tired me out with all the weight I was pushing.

Ran another 2.5 miles in the evening - was short on time, so I decided to push the pace.  The run felt good, but this may not have been the wisest choice - I am definitely feeling worse now from a health perspective.  First mile was 7:03, second mile 6:33, last .5 something like 3:11.  Average pace was 6:42/mile.  Based on how I feel right now, looks like tomorrow will be either a very light day or no mileage so I can recover.  I really need to get more sleep.

No running today, I felt sick, so I slept in and stayed home from work.  A nice 10 hours of sleep can do wonders for the sick body.

Felt much better today.  Ran 2.1 miles with Lybi, Sam, Joseph, Adam and Sparky (2 in the double jogging stroller, one running, and one of us holding the leash).  It felt good to get out and run, even if the pace was super slow.  Then I did another 2.9 miles later to make it an even 5 miles for the day.

Lybi already gave an accounting of last night, so I won't bore you with the details a second time.  Needless to say, it was a rough night.

Ran 6 miles in the nice cool wet air (we had rain all day today, but it conveniently stopped when it was time for me to run).  In spite of the lack of sleep, the run felt really good.  A little bit of tightness on the outside of my left knee - will stretch it out good.  Total time was  44:52, average pace of 7:29/mile.

So today was a major cleaning day - after I had to spend a couple of hours working on a computer-related issue that I got a page on, I helped Lybi and the boys do a major cleanup job on the house.  The boys cleaned their room, I cleaned the family room, moved all the furniture to vacuum the whole floor.  Good hard work.  I went back to road runner sports and returned my axioms (they gave me HUGE blood blisters on each foot when I ran my 1/2 marathon) - thankfully they have a 60-day no questions asked return policy on their shoes.  Haven't decided yet which shoes to buy to replace them with - tried on the Asics DS Trainers and the Nike Zoom Elite+, like the wide toe box in the Asics, like the extra cushioning in the Nikes, but they have a pretty narrow toe box.  Got home, and after Lybi's piano lessons, we spent several hours making and baking the best bread ever!  She got a wonderful whole wheat bread recipe that uses fresh ground wheat, special yeast called SAF yeast, honey, salt and oil, plus a natural dough enhancer.  We had a good time making the bread, and an even better time eating it!  All the FRB'ers who come to run Del Sol will get a chance to sample . . .

With all that going on, I was fairly wiped out, and thoroughly unmotivated to run.  Lybi somehow helped me to pluck up the nerve to get out and at least do my 6 miles, which I did.  Once I got going, I felt really good, although I was a bit wheezy from having inhaled some wheat dust when we were grinding the wheat.  Today's run ended up basically being a progressive tempo run, finishing at LT pace.  Miles were as follows:

Mile 1	7:28
Mile 2	7:11
Mile 3	6:54
Mile 4	6:59
Mile 5	6:45
Mile 6	6:34

 Felt good throughout, no pain in the side of my knee, although I stretched out my IT band before I got going, and I think that helped.  Overall, good run, probably better that I didn't do a real long run today, guess I'll have to deal with Lybi beating me in weekly mileage for another week :)  Hopefully I will be able to get going next week and get a run in every day, as well as stay healthy, so that I can get my mileage up over 40.  I think right now the plan will be to do 7 miles every day to put me at 42.  I won't have much time to do more on Saturday, as Lybi has cavalcade, which she will need to spend most of the day on.
 

Ran 1.5 miles with Sam and Sparky after work.  Adam and Joey were still sick - they didn't run.

After dinner, ran another 1.5 miles with Sparky, then did another 5 miles by myself.  Had 4 miles that were around MP, the rest were easy miles, the entire run felt very good, my legs felt powerful. 

Ran 2.5 miles with Adam and Joseph in the jogging stroller while Sam did his homework, then ran another 1.5 miles with Sam. About 7:40 pace for the miles with just Adam and Joseph, about 12:30 pace for the miles with Sam. Will do some more after Lybi gets back from her run with Christine this evening.

Ran another 4 miles later in the evening - 1.5 miles with Sparky, then another 2.5 miles by myself to hit 8 miles for the day.  Average pace of 7:36/mile.  Left soleus was pretty tight afterwards, an indication that I am out of alignment again and need to go see the chiro.  Also used the stick I got Lybi on that area to loosen up the tight muscles.  Outside of my knee started to ache towards the end of the run as well - tight piriformis, tight ITB.  Need to stretch them out good. 

Ran 1.5 miles with the entire family - I pushed Joseph and Adam in the stroller, we let Sam run holding Sparky's leash for a while.  He did a great job.  Then ran another 3.5 miles later to make a total of 5 miles for today.  I am not sure if I am going to do any more today or not.

Had the Del Sol Relay captain's meeting this evening, so I didn't get home until about 8:30.  Lybi decided not to run today because her knee was acting up again.  I ran 3 miles with Sparky at 7:56 pace (he was tired afterwards), then ran another 4 miles at 7:29 pace.  Stretched out my IT band and piriformis before getting out, the knee held up fine.

Ran 3 miles outside with Sparky at 7:59 pace.  Ran in my new Grid Tangents to break them in.  They feel good.  I will be test driving them a few more times to make sure they will work properly.  If not, thank goodness for Road Runner Sports' 60 day perfect fit guarantee.  Took Sparky back in, went out for another 4 miles.  First 3.5 miles nice and easy, about 7:35 pace, then picked up the pace to see how the shoes would feel at closer to race pace.  Last 1/2 mile around 6:30 pace, total time of 29:46, average pace of 7:26/mile, purely due to the last 1/2 mile.

AM - went out for an 8-miler. Lybi has Cavalcade practice this morning, then piano lessons in the afternoon, then the Cavalcade event this evening, so this morning was the only time I was going to have to get my run in. Went to bed at a reasonable hour, woke up at 6 and got going. Started off a bit slowly, then got into a good rhythm. My original goal was to maintain around 7:40 pace. I did pretty well for the first half, then found myself starting to slowly speed up. Around the halfway mark, the outside of my left knee was kind of tight and a little achy, so I stopped and stretched it out. Felt it for a little longer, then it went away for the rest of the run. Total time for the 8 miles was 1:00:23, average pace of 7:33/mile. Felt good to get this run out of the way. I may or may not do a couple more easy miles with Sparky later today. I hit my original mileage goal, so I am happy with that.

PM - In spite of my tired legs, I got out and ran 1.5 miles with Sam and Sparky, and with Joseph and Adam in the double jogging stroller.  Wasn't a particularly good run, but I am glad we did it. 

Ran 6 easy miles this evening, average pace of 7:35/mile.  Felt very good, legs had some pop to them.  Sam and Joey are sick (again), hoping they feel much better in the next day or two.  And on top of that Lybi threw her back out again.  All in all, kind of a rough night for the rest of the family.  Thankfully, I am feeling fine, and already was sick week before last (I probably started the whole thing off).

Ran 3 miles with Sparky after work. Average pace was 7:35. All three of our boys were asleep (that's a first in a very long time!), so it was just me and the dog. Weather outside was absolutely beautiful - sunny and 78. Weather forecast for the Del Sol Relay: Sunny, high of 80, low of 55 for both Friday and Saturday. Will get in some more miles after the boys go to bed (assuming they go to bed on time).

Ran another 4 miles by myself later this evening, after the boys went to bed.  They got to bed later than normal because they all took huge naps this afternoon.  First 3 miles at a nice 7:30 pace, then kicked into another gear for the last mile, somewhere in the vicinity of 6:30.  I wasn't quite expecting that when I stopped the watch (I didn't take the garmin on this run, just wanted to run by feel), but it felt very good.  Ran both the earlier run with Sparky as well as this run in my Saucony Grid Tangents - they feel very good for a lightweight trainer, and don't seem to be giving me the same issues as the Axioms did.  On a side note, it may actually be time for me to switch away from Brooks - I have been having issues where my heels wear a hold in the outer rear of the sockliner and expose the hard plastic heel counter.  It seems to me that perhaps the heel is to wide for me.  Next time I need to get new shoes (probably next month), I will check out some other brands again to see if I can find one with a narrower heel. 

A big fat zero for the day.  After dinner, I needed to do some handywork on the bathroom (had to replace the doorknob because the lock on the existing handle did not work) - with all the company we are expecting, I didn't want anyone barging in on someone else accidentally :o

After getting a knew handle at Home Depot and then picking up a few items at the grocery store so Lybi could make some more bread, I spent the rest of the time putting the new handle on, and had previously decided it was ultra-important for me to get to bed at 10:00, no matter what, because I had a couple days of really crummy sleep.  So no running, but I'm OK with that.

Ran 1 mile with Benjamin in 7:55, then ran another 7 miles with Sasha.  Can I just say, I am SOOOOO envious of all the bloggers who have running partners!  Tonights run was so much fun.  We ran at a nice clip the entire time, with the exception of two pit stops.  During the 5th and 7th miles, we did 1/4 mile pickups at Sasha's threshold pace, and I was amazingly able to keep up.  The pickups translated to a sub-5:10 pace.  I know that part of it had to do with having a partner running with me - gets the competitive juices flowing, but boy did it feel good!  The rest of the run was somewhere around 7:30 pace.  Felt nice and relaxed.  Ran again in my grid tangents to break them in some more.  They feel much better than the axioms did.  Just my feet, I guess.

AM - Sasha and I took the van to get the oil changed, ran 6 miles while we were waiting.  Forgot to bring the Garmin, so we just went by time - 46 minutes for 6 miles.  Today is the big day, folks!  I wish I were fast enough to be running, but will have to make do with being part of the big party as a driver this year.  I will get in some more miles later today.

Ran 1.5 miles with Sam and Sparky at a slow pace, then another 0.5 with Joseph.  After Lybi did her walking, I went out for another 5 miles, felt very good.  Didn't check the Garmin to see how fast I was going, although my speed constantly increased throughout the run.  I ended the run at a pretty good clip.  Total time for the 5 miler was 35:46, average pace of 7:09/mile.  Sasha and I talked last Friday about the need to go easy the first day after a break, but right now I am having a hard time with that - my legs feel so fresh and spunky that it is hard to hold back, even when I start nice and steady.  I had started my run last night at about 7:45 pace, and just slowly increased the pace.  Maybe if I had looked at the Garmin I could have held back.  Oh well - next time.

Easy 1 mile with Samuel (his leg was hurting him), then another 1/2 mile with Joseph.  Then another 2 miles on my own - average pace of 7:23/mile.  I will get in a few more miles after Lybi gets back from her walk.

Ran another 3.5 miles later in the evening - I felt "in the zone" on this run - I started out close to 7:30 pace for the first 1/2 mile, but just found my legs wanting to really lay down the hammer, so I decided to go with it today.  I don't have my splits but my average pace for the 3.5 mile run was 6:36/mile.  Felt awesome during and after the run.  No soreness, no problems.  I feel like my fitness has been improved right now, given how well I was able to crank this run out.  There is no doubt in my mind that if I were to run another 5K, I would be in the low- to mid-18:00 range, and sub-18:00 is not out of the question.  I think I am going to enter a 5K in the next week or two to see what I can do.  Planning on 7 miles/day for the rest of this week, with a 13 miler on Saturday to put me at 48 miles for the week.

Ran 1.5 miles with Samuel and Sparky - he actually did pretty well - something less than 18:00 by my recollection, which would be under 12:00/mile.  Then ran approx. 0.5 miles with Joseph, although probably a little more.

Got my new cell phone and spent over an hour playing with it and configuring it (it is a Smartphone), then thanks to a timely reminder from my wife, managed to make it out the door for another 4 miles before it was time to go to bed.  29:06 for the 4 miles (sans Garmin), average pace of something like 7:14/mile.

Ran 1.5 easy miles with Samuel, then ran another 0.5 with Joseph, and another 0.25 with Adam.  Went to Webelos Scouts - we are making bulletin boards this week as we are working on their craftsman activity badge - then had Roundtable.  Got home around 9:00 pm, went out for another 5 miles.  Changed the Garmin to autolap every 0.5 miles for a change.  This run ended up being a progressive run as well.  Started out around 7:50 pace, then slowly increased my pace as the run continued.  The final mile was at 6:40 pace.  Total time for the run was 36:07, average pace of 7:13/mile.  I have noticed that I tend to run faster whenever I wear my Tangents - maybe because they are lighter, and maybe because they feel better on my feet.  Even with how light they are, I can tell a difference between them and my Adrenalines, which sadly are probably close to the end of their life.

1.5 easy miles with Sparky at about 8:15 pace, then another 5 miles on my own.  The 5 miles were at 7:36 pace.  My legs felt kind of dead today, not sure if it was because of the shoes or just because of the increased miles.  I am feeling more and more that the shoes need to be retired.

I am so frustrated today!  I had plans to do a 13 mile long run today, was feeling really good, but starting at about mile 4, my knee started acting up (the outside of my knee, right around my IT Band).  I stopped to stretch it out and continued.  I had to stop again after another mile and stretch again, then again at the turnaround point (mile 6.5).  I stretched again at mile 8, and was not feeling very confident of my ability to continue.  I decided to push the next mile, which finished on a corner where there was a gas station.  I made the decision to stop there, because it was really hurting me and felt like my knee might lock up (kind of felt like something was catching).  I called Lybi and had her pick me up.  Darn my knee!  Cardiovascularly, I felt excellent.  The first 8 miles felt easy to me.  They were at 7:31 pace.  Everything else felt good, my form, my legs did not feel dead, just this problem with my knee.  My hip was also getting very tight, so I am fairly sure that the origin of the problem is up there (piriformis, IT Band, gluteus minimus, something like that).  I am going to do some good stretching, and if it feels better this evening, I will do a few more miles with the boys.  Otherwise I am shutting it down until next week.  Hopefully it will feel better on Monday.  I am probably going to go see the chiropractor as well.

Ran 2.25 miles total with the boys and Sparky, sans the Garmin.  Leg felt okay, started to get a little tight at the very end after we were done.  Found some really great stretches for my gluteal muscles and Tensor Fascia Latae/IT Band, some of which I was already doing.  Did some stretches, then after dinner and putting the boys down, went out for some more easy miles.  I was originally planning on 3 more miles, but at the 2 mile mark, my knee started to tighten up, so I just finished up the last 1/4 mile back home and called it a day.  Total of 4.5 miles for the day.  Knee got pretty tight at the end and kind of felt like it was catching a bit, did the stretches and will get some good time with the stick - I can tell I have some tight muscles in my pelvis and going all the way down the outside of my upper leg.

Ran 2.5 total miles, knee started hurting again, made the decision that I am going to shut it down for the rest of the week and work on stretching out my pelvis.  Nothing I am doing right now in terms of running is helping my leg to heal, so I think rest is the best option.  I am still very hopeful for Striders.

No running for me today - taking the rest of the week off in an effort to rehab my knee.  I will focus on stretching and core exercises the rest of the week.  Hopefully back to running next week if all goes well.  The knee got a bit tight at work and I felt it catching a bit when I had to bend my knees while standing up.  I may need to get up and walk around more at work than I am doing now.

After having taken the rest of last week off, I was hopefull that I would be able to get back to running today.  Started out nice and easy.  However, by the 1.5 mile mark, my knee was doing exactly the same thing.  I was so frustrated.  I tried to run through it a little, but that didn't help, and it just started getting worse.  Was able to take a bit of a shortcut home and finish with 3.5 instead of 4 miles.  Right now, I am convinced that my problem has to do with my pelvis being out of whack, and my gluteals and piriformis, as well as other abductors, compensating, which is throwing my entire leg off.  Gonna go see Dr. Rick either today or tomorrow, whenever he is available.  No running until I get adjusted, and we will have to see after that.

1.5 Very easy miles with the boys - first .9 with Joey and Adam in the double jogging stroller and Sam running.  Knee felt OK today.  Last .6 with both Sam and Joey running, and Adam in the jogging stroller.  I could start to feel my hip getting tight towards the end of the run, and my knee started to feel a teeny bit tight at the very end, but nothing like it was the other day.  I will probably go see Dr. Rick again on Thursday and keep with very slow miles all week.  I am also going to start putting some heat on the hip to see if I can loosen up the muscles some.

Ran 0.5 with Joseph, with Adam in the jogging stroller, then Joseph got in the stroller and I ran another 2 miles.  Nice easy pace.  Then another 0.25 with Adam.  That will do it for today.

Ran the first .9 miles barefoot on a challenge from Lybi.  Knee felt fine, but I could tell that my poor little feet have been babied.  Without realizing it (I wasn't looking at my watch), I actually found myself going about 7:40 pace, and my toes ended up getting a little bruised on the bottom.  Overall, not a bad experience, but I prefer a bit more padding.  Then put my shoes on and took Sparky for a run.  Towards the end, my knee started to tighten up a little bit to the point where I could feel it - it didn't hurt, but I could definitely tell it was tight.  Got back inside, and did a bit of active stretching on a gut feeling (holding on to the back of a chair, and swinging my leg from side to side.  I could feel it most in my hamstrings, which I suspect are kinda tight).  This actually made the tightness go away.  Then I did my core exercises and some stretches for my abductors and IT band.

Ran 2 miles in the afternoon, knee got hurty again.  I am going to have to scratch on the Provo City 1/2 - with the condition my knee is in, I am having a hard time even running 3 miles, let alone 13.  I think it is time for me to look up a good sports physical therapist so that I can get some work done on my knee and abductors.  Obviously chiro alone is not doing the trick, even though he also does heat and electric stimulation therapy.  I am very bummed right now :(

Ran 1.5 miles with the boys in my pool shoes . . . slow and steady.  No knee pain.

Ran 1.5 miles with the boys, nice and slow, then took Sparky out for a leisurely 2 miles.  Knee started to tighten up at about 1.5 miles, never got real painful, but enough that I knew it was there.

Ran 1.5 miles with the boys again.  Adam finally seems to be over his bronchitis, but I still did not take him out.  Took Sparky with us instead.  Did not time the run, just focused on enjoying the time with my boys.  After dinner, ran another 2.5 miles, shod.  Knee started to tighten up at about 2 miles, I could feel it the rest of the way in, but it wasn't super sore.  I am going to attack my leg with the stick again (I did that last night) and see if I can manage to work out the tightness.

Ran 2 miles with the boys and Sparky, 0.5 with Joey and then 1.5 with Sam. Then after dinner, ran 2 miles at a nice easy pace. Abductors started to get tight about 1.5 miles in, and my knee started to get a little tight at 1.75 miles, but not as bad as yesterday, which was not as bad as the day before. When I got back, Lybi totally found the trigger point for my tight abductor - seems to totally be the gluteus minimus - very deep, right up against the bone. She hit the pressure point, and I bent my leg up to try and loosen it up. Wowsers, did that hurt, but in a good way. I am hopeful that it will continue to improve.

On a side note, the boys and I got to watch the space shuttle land live on nasatv.com - Samuel thought it was very cool. 

Ran 4 miles - 1.5 with Sam and then another 2.5 with Joey and Adam in the jogging stroller. Felt pretty good - kept the pace nice and easy. My knee only started to tighten up a bit the lasr 1/2 mile, but not too bad.

Went with the boys to a ward activity at 1:00 - "Ward's Strongest Saint".  I didn't realize until we got there that it was outside.  Lots of fun activities, most around the theme of the "World's Strongest Man" competition.  Got a pretty good workout, am sure to be sore tomorrow.  I also got myself sunburned.  As soon as we got back, Lybi and I headed off to REI to see if we could get her to try on some of the Vibram Five Fingers, but unfortunately they did not stock them, although they had them online.  And the only store in the area that does have them is not open on Saturdays.  After dinner, we played some games with the boys, then after we got them to bed, I got the chance to go out for a little run.  No big expectations, just going on feel.  I was pretty tired anyways from the long day.  Ended up doing 3 miles total, knee started to tighten up around mile 2.5.  Not a very high-mileage week, but I'll take it.

Ran 1.5 miles with Samuel and Joseph (first .9 with Samuel, pushing Joseph and Adam in the jogging stroller, last .6 with both Samuel and Joseph, pushing only Adam).  Then did another 2.5 miles alone, nice easy pace.  It still feels weird to be running slower, but perhaps I am getting some benefit from it here and allowing my body to heal up a bit.  I did not experience any pain in my knee today while running, although I could feel my hip tightening up.  I went back and looked at the diagrams of the trigger points and referred pain from www.painclinic.com, and am trying to figure out what is ailing me for sure.  I know that I have pain at the outside of my knee and in my butt, but when Lybi tries to get the trigger point, it seems like it is right around the origin of the hamstrings (on the ischium, just above the ischial tuberosity).  Weird.  I still haven't seen a PT, and our neighbor from across the street is actually one.  I just have to find out what our out of network benefits are.  Probably ought to do that . . .

On a side note, we have decided to head up to Utah for the weekend, and Lybi will be taking my place in the Provo City 1/2 marathon.  Go Lybi!  I will be her faithful cheerleader this time.  We are also hoping to have Josse do some scrapping on my leg to see if it will help.

1.5 miles so far with the boys - .9 with just Samuel, pushing Joseph and Adam in the jogging stroller, then another .6 with both Samuel and Joseph, pushing only Adam.  No time.  Will hopefully get another couple miles in when Lybi gets back from her run with Christine.

Ran another 3.1 miles on my own when Lybi got back.  Knee did pretty good.  My glutes/piriformis area started to get a bit sore after around 2 miles, but I was actually able to find the trigger point while I was running to provide a bit of relief.  Knee started to tighten up a bit around mile 2.5, but appears to have been related to the glutes - once I released the trigger point, my knee felt better.  Nice easy pace - I was breathing very easy the entire time.  Maybe I haven't lost too much fitness :)

1.5 miles with Sparky, then another 3 miles on my own.  The first 2.1 miles were shod, then I decided to be adventurous and try another lap barefoot.  It felt better than last time - at least my toes didn't get bruised, but I stepped on several small stones that bruised my forefoot a little.  I may continue the adventure to toughen up my feet a little and see if it helps with my hip pain.

3 easy miles this evening with Sasha, first two also with Lybi. Based on her run tonight, both Sasha and I are pretty confident that she can come close to or even break 2 hours tomorrow. I will be pacing her from mile 3 to 8.

Paced Lybi through miles 3-8, pushing our Adam, and Sasha and Sarah's Joseph.  I got a pretty good workout, too, what with all the wind.  Lybi was doing great, she slowed down a little bit with all the wind, even with my doing my best to break (I mean block - he he) the wind for her.  But I can't help feeling she was looking and feeling stronger and more relaxed than I was pushing that heavy old stroller.  I was sad that I had to run ahead at about mile 7.4, but Adam was really crying quite a bit (I think that his feet were cold, because he didn't have any shoes on, just socks, and the blanket that was covering him had come off his feet).  So that was the first five.  Drove back and picked up Sasha for him to pace Lybi through the rest of the race, then drove back to the Pachev's, dropped off Joseph and picked up Samuel and our Joseph to go back to the finish line to greet Lybi.  I tried to get a couple of good shots, but none of them turned out well :(  I was so darn proud of Lybi - don't let her fool you - this was a big accomplishment for her.  She did a marvelous job, especially on just around 30 miles/week.  Ran another mile later on with Samuel, Joseph, Julia and Sasha.  Joseph did about .5 miles while Julia was dusting them with her speed, and Sam did almost an entire mile.  Time to get ready for Priesthood session now . . . did I mention how proud I am of Lybi :)

Drove all day today from Provo back to Mesa.  Set a new record - 10 hours, including stops.  Was pretty worn out when we got home, ran with the boys individually.  After discussing with Sasha, we decided to take Samuel back down to 1 mile, but have him run faster.  I held his hand and helped him to get his legs going.  Ran a mile in 10:05.  Ran .6 miles with Joseph in 7:18 - 12:00 pace.  He did pretty good with that - I will keep him at that pace for now.  Then did a little bit with Adam.  Celebrated Lybi's birthday today - I'll let her mention what she got if she wants . . .

Was too worn out to run any more than what I did.  I am going to keep taking it real easy until I get my miles up past 40 again, then will start to incorporate some tempo miles into my schedule.  Somebody hold me to that . . . :) 

Ran 1 mile with Samuel in exactly 10:00.  He did much better than yesterday in every aspect.

Ran 0.62 miles with Joseph in 7:00 (11:15 pace).  He did extremely well also

Ran a very short distance with Adam (not recorded).  He didn't want to hold my hand and fell flat on his fact about 20 feet before we finished :(  Poor little guy . . .

Ran another 3 miles by myself (with Sparky) at 8:44 pace.  Felt a slight bit of twinging in my knee for about 30 seconds, then it went away, just a very slight achy feeling after that.  Otherwise felt good.  BTW, while we were at the Pachev's, Josse came over and scraped my knee - got some real good bruising there :)  Thanks, Josse!  She also showed Lybi how to perform the technique, and we will be ordering our own soon so that Lybi can continue to inflict torture on me :D (j/k - it really wasn't that bad)

1 mile with Sam in 9:35, then abort 0.5 miles with Joey. Another 2 Miles on my own with sparky at 8:35 pace. My knee was a little hurty for the last mile.

Ran 1 mile win Sam in 9:25 (wow!), then 0.65 miles with Joey. Will hopefully get the chance to run some more later, but if not, oh well.

Ran 1 mile with Samuel in 10:15, then 0.65 miles with Joey at 11:15 pace. Then another 3.35 miles on my own at 8:30 pace. Legs felt good, my knee started to get a little tight towards the end, but nothing big. Happy am I!

Ran in the afternoon, it was pretty hot out, but it felt good.  Good news and bad news about my run:  The good news - I got in 5 straight miles without feeling any pain in my knee.  The bad news - I could not force myself to run any slower than about 8:15 pace, try as I might.  I am okay with this, but would prefer to keep my pace slower to aid healing.  Based on this week, I am going to work on getting in 5 miles/day in the coming week, and see how my knee feels.  I will keep all the miles slow and easy.  Running with my boys definitely helps with this, since I have to run at their pace.

PM - 1 mile with Samuel in 10:13.  Then another .65 with Joseph at 11:05 pace.  0.15 with Adam (untimed), then another 3.2 miles on my own later on for a total of 5 for the day.  Knee felt great, no pain at all.  I didn't have the Garmin for my portion, and the laps I was running were about 1.5 miles, so I wasn't real sure about my pace until I finished.  Blog calculator puts me at about 8:10/mile, not to bad since I didn't have the Garmin to gauge my pace and I just went basically off how I felt.  However, this is really at the end of the spectrum of how fast I want to run while I continue to recover.

On another note, I put in my registration for the SGM lottery.  I wasn't able to get a reservation with the Coronada Inn like I have had the past few times, but did get a reservation at the Travelodge (somebody, please tell me it is not too bad there!).  I may still try to get in at the Coronada Inn (I like how close they are to the start, and the rooms are not bad at all), but at least I am covered as it stands right now.

PM - 1 mile with Sam in 10:00 exactly, then 0.65 with Joey at 10:50 pace.  Another 3.35 by myself at about 8:20 pace.  My knee started to feel a little hurty during the last mile.  I am starting to wonder if the shoes have anything to do with it.  When I wear my Saucony Grid Tangents, my knee does not seem to hurt, and when I wear my old Adrenalines, my knee ends up hurting.  Probably time for new shoes.

PM - 3.1 miles by myself before dinner. The boys had friends over, so I haven't taken them running yet. Average pace was 8:21/mile. Legs felt good, better than yesterday, but I felt a few twinges occasionally after mile 2.

Another mile with Samuel in 10:25 (it was windy, and he was wearing pants), then 0.65 with Joey at 11:35 pace, and another .15 with Adam.  Leg felt good.  Samuel did real well, he said he was feeling stronger.  I take that as a good sign.

PM - ran 1 mile with Sam in 10:09, then 0.65 with Joey at 11:35 pace, then another .15 with Adam. I don't think I am going to have a chance to run any more tonight. We had pack meeting, and Lybi has missionary correlation and splits.

Was able to get in another 3.1 miles, no time.  Now off to bed. 

Woohoo!  A good night's sleep!  1 mile with Samuel in 10:09.  I made a deal with him today - when he can run a 10 minute mile without holding my hand at all, I will take him to the dollar store to pick out a toy.  0.65 miles with Joey at about 10:50 pace.  I made the same deal with Joey - but his was for running his 0.65 mile loop at 11:00 pace.  Needless to say, both of them are very motivated right now.  I am already seeing the benefits of helping both of them to run faster - the other day, it was really blustery out, and I made some comment to Sam whilst running with him, and he said "I don't care!  I'm tough enough!"  I thought to myself, wow, this is really helping him!  BTW, these miles were done in my "pool shoes".  I ordered a pair of Saucony Progrid Guides yesterday, and until they arrive, I am only running on either the pool shoes or my Tangents.  Bye bye, Adrenalines.

Another 3.55 miles, 2.25 of which were with Sparky.  8:21 average pace.  Felt good, no pain in the knee.

AM - 3.4 easy miles with Sparky at 8:15 pace. I was cruising along at around 8:20-8:25 pace and then picked it up a bit for the last mile or so. I hit a couple quarters around 7:40 pace, and they still felt good. Left arch has been a bit sore waking up for the past couple days, I am going to stretch it out and roll it, and potentially use the sock if I need to.

PM - ran 1 mile with Samuel in 11:30 (he was not holding my hand, as I was pushing the other two boys in the jogging stroller, and we had just had dinner not too long ago), then 0.65 with Joey in 7:26 (11:26 pace).  Puts me up to a total of 5.05 miles for the day, and 30.05 miles for the week.  Feeling pretty good, looking forward to getting my PG Guides on Monday.  They are almost as light as my Tangents - the tangents are 9.4 oz, and the PG Guides are 10.8 oz.  About the closest non-performance stability shoe I could find.  We were planning on taking Lybi to the local running store to have them perform a gait analysis this evening, but that didn't work out.  We will have to try another time soon.

PM - ran 1 mile with Samuel in 10:00.  We were averaging slightly slower than 10:00/mile, but he started to whine at the very end, so I sped up with him a bit.  Then ran 0.65 with Joey in 7:03 - 10:50 pace.  He did really well.

Ran another 4 miles by myself - average 8:14/mile.  Makes a total of 5.65 miles for the day.  I'll keep this up the rest of the week and probably do a 7-miler or so on Saturday depending on how I feel.  Looking forward to getting my new shoes today - too bad they didn't get here yet for me to run in them today.

On a side note, went to the Road Runner Sports store today during lunch, had them do their shoe dog analysis to confirm the type of shoe I should be wearing.  Barefoot analysis showed I have normal arches, and tend to overpronate.  Then barefoot gait analysis on the treadmill showed I have a pretty normal gait and nice even toe-off, but that my achilles' are a bit too flexible (imagine that!) during heelstrike.  Anyways, suspicions confirmed, I ordered the right kind of shoe.

PM - got my new shoes just before I was about to head out the door with Sam, so I took a moment to put them on and work on getting them broken in. Went out with Sam, ran 1 mile with him in 9:52. He had a fairly long segment that he ran without holding my hand, while still keeping the same pace. Then ran 0.65 miles with Joey at 11:00 pace. Lybi's missionary correlation and visits got switched to Tuesday nights, so I will have to take the boys in the double jogging stroller later.

PM2 - After getting the boys ready for bed, allowed Sam to stay home and read (with the doors locked, of course), and took the other two boys for a run in the double jogging stroller.  4.15 miles, felt good, no knee pain except for a few occasional twinges.  The shoes felt good.  Average pace was 8:17/mile.

(Progrid Guide: 5.8 miles)

PM - after dinner, Lybi and I ran with the entire clan - me pushing Adam and Joey in the stroller, with Sam running and Lybi holding Sparky. Sam ran 1 mile in 10:06, about half of which was not holding on to my hand or the jogging stroller. He is doing really well. I think he is going to get that prize pretty soon. Then Joey got out and he did really well too, 0.65 in 7:15. Our boys are definitely getting stronger and faster. Before we know it, Sam will be running too fast for Lybi on her slow runs.

After getting the boys to bed, I ran another 4 miles by myself. The run felt good, my legs felt good. I am still having a fairly hard time keeping the pace slow - my legs keep wanting to go faster and I have to really concentrate on running slower. Average pace 8:13/mile.

Another mile with Sparky, untimed. 

(ProGrid Guide - 12.45)

PM - ran 1 mile with Samuel in 10:01, then 0.65 with Joey in 7:04 (10:50 pace).  Was pushing the other two boys in the jogging stroller while holding Sparky at the same time.  Then another 1.5 with Sparky at 8:15 pace, and another 3 by myself.  Total of 6.15 miles for the day.

PM - 1 mile with Samuel in 9:59 (a little bit of whining involved), then 0.65 with Joey in 7:12.  Both were with Adam in the jogging stroller and Sparky at my side as well.

PM2 - 4.1 easy miles by myself at 8:20 pace.  Run felt good, knee felt good, I felt like I was trying to hold myself back deliberately the entire run. 

AM - Lybi picked up a babysitter early this morning, and for our date, we went for a long run.  8.5 miles together at average pace of 10:21, although for most of the run we were at about 10:40 pace, and picked it up the last mile or so.  It was very enjoyable to run with Lybi on multiple levels - we had time to talk, time to spend together, and it was actually relaxing.  No knee pain whatsoever.

AM - 5 easy miles before work. I changed back from my 9 hour shifts so that I could run in the morning and have more time to spend with the family after work. Total time - 41:00, average pace 8:12/mile.  Felt good, just ran by feel as I didn't have the Garmin.  Felt a few small twinges in my knee during the second half of the run, unless it was all in my head . . .

PM - ran 1 mile with Sam in 10:07, small amount of whining involved.  Then ran 0.65 miles with Joey in 7:13.

(ProGrid Guide - 24.85)

AM - 3 miles with Sparky in 25:15 (8:25 pace), then another 2 miles by myself in 16:10. The run felt good, but my knee gave me a few twinges again. I need to make sure that I am stretching out good after my runs.

PM - ran 1 mile with Sam in 9:55, then 0.65 with Joey in 7:05. 

AM - ran approx. 3.35 miles with Sparky in 27:31 - average of 8:13/mile. Not 100% sure about the distance, but I will take the approximation. Left arch was a little sore, so I decided to have that be it for this morning, and will do my miles with the boys this afternoon.

PM - ran 1 mile with Sam in 10:08, then 0.65 with Joey in something like 7:08.  Felt good.

(ProGrid Guide: 29.85)

PM - ran 1 mile total with Sam and Joey (ran with both of them at first, then dropped Joey off at 0.65 miles and continued with Sam to finish the mile). Ran another 2 miles with Sparky at 8:30 pace, legs felt good. Then I got to re-christen our trusty treadmill (I replaced the motor belt, which turned out to be the cause of all the belt slippage - hooray!) while Lybi ran outside - this was after the boys were asleep. Ran 7 miles on the treadmill at 8:34 pace. Felt a little bit of niggle in my knee, probably due to the high amount of mileage, but it didn't get any worse. Feels fine now. I will have Lybi scrape my leg later to continue to promote healing. Walked another 1.5 miles on the treadmill to cool down while I watched the rest of the Dr. Who episode. I need to do something about my arch as well, looks like I am developing a pretty good case of PF. I'll continue to roll it, and wear the Strassburg Sock (once I wash it, that is).

(ProGrid Guide - 39.85)

PM - ran 1 mile with Samuel in 10:01, then 0.65 with Joey in 7:18.  Unmeasured distance with Adam.  Took Sparky for 2.85 miles at 8:22 pace - he was pretty tired and hot after that.  Then I ran another 2 miles by myself, averaging somewhere around 8:10/mile.  Average for the run with Sparky and by myself was 8:15/mile.  Felt good, little bit of niggle in my knee towards the end of the run, but it seems that I have been able to build up the distance I run before I start to feel anything, and sometimes I don't feel anything at all, so that seems to be a good thing to me.  I am considering registering for a local 5K in a couple of weeks.

(ProGrid Guide - 46.35)

AM - ran 3.35 miles with Sparky, unknown time because my watch didn't start up again when I pushed the start button (and no Garmin). Guessing somewhere around 8:20 pace. Then ran another 2 miles by myself, accidentally ran faster than I realized because I messed up with the time - I thought I was actually running at about 8:45 pace, but it was really 7:45 pace. Knee felt fine, except for a brief period where I had sped up with Sparky to try to get him to run next to me and have slack in the leash instead of him running behind me and there being tension in the leash. Kind of aggravating at times, because it pulls back on me. I think this also has an effect on how fast I run alone - I get used to running at a certain pace with Sparky, and then when I run, because I don't have that force pulling back on me, I end up running faster.

PM - ran 1 mile with Sam in 9:52, then 0.65 with Joey in 7:02.  They both did very well, in spite of the wind starting to pick up.  Sam ran almost half a mile without holding my hand, and was able to maintain the pace quite well. 

AM - ran 3 miles with Sparky at 8:00 pace (a bit too fast, but since I wasn't wearing the Garmin, it was hard to determine that until the end). In spite of the faster pace, the run felt good. Took Sparky back inside and then ran another 2.1 miles by myself in 16:50, still same average of 8:00/mile. Will run with the boys this afternoon to finish my day.

PM - ran 1 mile with Samuel in 9:56 - without holding his hand at all! He achieved his goal (sub-10:00 mile on his own), and will be getting a toy from the dollar store tomorrow (we would have gone today, but they close at 7). Then ran 0.65 with Joey at 10:30 pace - also without holding his hand at all! He also achieved his goal of sub-11:00 pace for his run, and will be getting a toy from the dollar store as well. Gave all the boys hot chocolate tonight as a treat for doing so well. I am so proud of all my boys, they did a marvelous job, and have showed me how they have really improved in their speed and strength. I am going to try to have them run all by themselves from now on, now that they have shown me they can do it, and we might just go a little slower.

(ProGrid Guide - 53.1)

PM - ran 5 miles on the treadmill.  We stayed up too late last night, so I slept in this morning to get some extra sleep.  Average pace around 8:20/mile.  Picked up the pace on the last 1/2 mile - felt good.  Knee feels good.

1 mile with Samuel in 9:54 - he did even better than the other day, from my perspective - not just in terms of time, but in terms of how comfortable he was running at that pace. Then 0.65 with Joey in 6:55 (10:40 pace). He did excellent as well. Untimed short portion with Adam. Then 2.5 miles with Sparky at 8:20 pace, including a 1/2 mile pick-up at 7:20 pace. 4 more miles on the treadmill - this will be my long day, since tomorrow is crazy busy.

(ProGrid Guide - 61.25)

P.S. - I found out that I got into the St. George Marathon again this year!  I am so excited, and am really hoping I will be able to get another PR this year.  Goal:  sub-3:00.  I feel confident I can do it.  I am doing a good job of getting in the base right now, and will be able to have several months of 50+ miles/week, as well as plenty of time to get in some speed work.  Knee, don't fail me now!

PM - 1 mile with Sam, slower because we had recently eaten and the boys were pretty full. Then 0.65 with Joey, also slower than the past couple days, but no big deal. I plan on doing another 5-6 miles later, either on the treadmill or outside, depending on what Lybi does. We were hoping to be able to run together with our babysitter here, but that didn't seem to work out.

Ran 5 miles outside at 8:05 pace.  Started off around 8:15 pace, then when I turned around, I started to speed up a bit.  Last 0.5 miles at 7:25 pace.  Felt good.  No knee pain.

AM - ran 3.35 miles with Sparky around 8:00 pace. Started off slowly, then sped up once I got warmed up. No pain in the knee again, yay! I would have gotten in a couple more miles, but instead of hitting the snooze button this morning, I didn't wake up until Lybi's alarm went off 1/2 hour later. Planning on somewhere around 42 miles this week.

PM - ran 1 mile with Samuel in 10:13, then 0.65 with Joey in somewhere around 7:00. Then after dinner I ran another 2 miles to make it 7 for the day.

(ProGrid Guide - 68.25)

AM - ran 3.35 with Sparky, then ran 2.15 by myself. I was just planning on 2, but a short way into my route, I saw what looked like a fox or a coyote up ahead and decided to turn back and go a different route. Felt good, still no knee pain. More miles later with the boys.

PM - ran 1 mile with Samuel - not one of his better days.  Then 0.65 with Joey.  Had to hold both of their hands today.  Ah well, such is life.  We will keep working on that.  I am trying to work with Samuel on getting rid of his negative attitude when he runs, because he often will literally "think" himself out of running faster by telling himself he can't run any faster, when he and I know for a fact he can because he has before. 

AM - ran 3.5 miles with Sparky, somewhere between 8:00 and 8:30 pace. Started off nice and easy, around 9:00 pace and just picked it up throughout the run. Knee felt good. No pain whatsoever.

One of our vendors hosted a golf tournament today, which I went to - lots of fun, sprayed golf balls all over the place, good food. Even with carts, I ended up running around quite a bit. Not counting anything, but it definitely adds to the exercise.

PM - after I got home, ran 3 miles on the treadmill. Started at 8:30 pace for 0.25 miles, then picked up the pace to 8:00 pace for 1.25 miles. Bumped up the speed to 7:30 pace for 0.5 miles, then picked it up to 6:40 pace for the last mile. Felt good, still no knee pain. Yay!

(ProGrid Guide - 74.75)

AM - slept in a bit, just had time to run with Sparky this morning for 3.35 miles. Total time of 27:15, average pace of 8:08/mile. Started nice and easy and slowly picked up the pace as my legs warmed up.

PM - ran 1 mile with Samuel in 9:58, he whined quite a bit.  Then ran 0.65 with Joey at 11:00 pace.

PM2 - ran 2 miles on the treadmill to make it an even 7 for the day.  Average pace of 8:15/mile. 

PM - ran 1 mile with Samuel in 10:15 or so - he was whining again. I am kind of thinking that maybe I need to go back to holding his hand for a bit to help him with his form. Then 0.65 with Joey at 10:45 pace. Although he whined a bit, he toughed it out, and looked good the entire time.

Ran another 5 miles later on, 4 with Sparky. Felt good, knee felt good, no pain whatsoever. I am thinking about running in a 5K next Saturday - it is probably the only one of the Arizona Summer Race Series races I will be able to run. The next one is on a Sunday, and the one after that is on July 4, and we will be in New Mexico that weekend.

(ProGrid Guide - 81.4)

AM - ran 6 miles on the treadmill. First 4 miles at 8:30 pace, then bumped it up to 7:30 pace for a mile. Last mile was at 6:40 pace. Everything felt good. No pain, felt good cardiovascular-wise. I think I am definitely going to try to do that 5K next Saturday to see where my fitness is. I am also thinking of doing the TOU 1/2 marathon in August, since there are no 1/2 marathons in the area (the only one we had was cancelled this year due to sponsor fatigue). We will have to see how that goes. I would love to get in a good 1/2 before SGM to better gauge my fitness. Will do another 4 miles or so this evening.

PM - another 4 miles, nice and easy.  Legs felt kind of tired from earlier, and from going grocery shopping shortly afterward this morning.  But I got in my 10 miles, and hit 44 miles for the week.  I will probably plan on maintaining next week or maybe adding just a couple miles on.  I am getting excited about hitting 50 miles, and should be able to top 60 mpw before St. George.

AM - ran 3.35 miles with Sparky, about 8:10 pace. First mile in somewhere around 9:00, then slowly sped up as I got warmed up. Then another 2 miles on my own. First mile in 7:40, second mile I decided to do at 5K race pace - it felt really good to get up to speed, and no ill effects afterwards. No pain in the knee. Last mile was in 5:50. Yeah! I haven't ran that fast in quite a while. I managed to get a hold of the course map for the 5K this weekend - looks like it will be fairly flat, although much of it will be on the canal, which is dirt.

PM - ran 1 mile with Samuel in 10:20 - it was hot out - still 100 degrees at 8 pm.  Then ran another 2 easy miles to finish with 8.35 for the day.

(ProGrid Guide - 89.75)

AM - ran 3.25 miles with Sparky, average pace of 8:15/mile.  Then ran another 4 miles by myself at average pace of 7:53/mile.  It is getting too hot (at least yesterday and today) to run in the afternoon with the boys.  Lybi is going to start doing this in the morning to escape the heat wave in the afternoon.

AM - ran 3.25 miles with Sparky in 26:30, then ran 4 miles on my own in 32:00. Average pace for the 7.25 miles was 8:04/mile. Knee continues to feel fine, felt a little bit of tightness in my right calf while running this morning, probably nothing to worry about. My left arch was also pretty sore this morning when I woke up. I think that my "sock" has outlived its usefulness, and I am going to get a new PF sock from roadrunnersports, it does not go all the way up to the knee, but instead wraps around the ankle. Getting excited for the 5K this weekend. Looks like we should have pretty good weather too with it cooling down here. I am going to set the following goals for the race:

Gold: sub-18:00 (I am pretty sure I can do this, based on the first 2 miles of my 8K last November, which were in 11:50)

Silver: sub-18:30

Bronze: sub-19:00 (this would still be a post-HS PR for me)

(ProGrid Guide - 97)

AM - ran approx. 3.35 miles with Sparky. I say approximately, because there was a quite exciting/stressful event that happened somewhere around .35-.4 miles into the run. I was running east on Baseline with Sparky, when I looked ahead and saw what looked suspiciously like a mountain lion running east on the gravel next to the sidewalk where I was running - about 100 yards ahead of me. I didn't get to see the head, nor did I get a good look at the tail. I just turned right around with Sparky and started running the other way, fairly fast, I might add. It is possible that the animal was just a loose dog - maybe a yellow lab or a great dane. I just didn't want to get any closer to confirm exactly what it was. So anyways, after the eventful 3.35 miles, I ran another 2 miles by myself. Total time for the combined run was 44:00, average pace of 8:13/mile. It cooled down quite a bit today, so I will be running with the boys this afternoon.

PM - well, Lybi took the boys with her over to a friend's house while she practiced accompanying the daughter for a special musical number, so I didn't get to run with the boys.  I made dinner and ate before going to Webelos scouts, and didn't get to see them until I got back, at which point it was time to read scriptures and get them to bed.  So after I put Adam down, I went out in the rain for a nice 2 miler.  Unfortunately, I don't have any waterproof clothing, and am too cheap to buy some, so I ended up getting pretty soaked.  But it was very nice to be able to run in the rain!

On a side note, I found out that they are doing a staggered start for the 5K on Saturday, where everyone is handicapped by age and gender, which determines your start time after the clock starts.  My start time is 13:57.  Hopefully there will be some good runners for me to run with, but it will be quite the interesting race.  Unless I can find someone who is comparable to me in terms of time goal, it will pretty much be a time trial for me, although with lots of roadkill.  

AM - no workee for me today! I got to sleep in until 7:30 this morning. Made pancakes for the family, then went out for 5 miles by myself. Averaged 8:00/mile. Felt really nice, it was in the mid-50's and was drizzling a little bit. It was absolutely gorgeous. Afterwards, I took the boys for a run. Ran 1 mile with Samuel in 10:24, then 0.65 with Joey in 7:15 or so. May get in a couple more miles this evening to shake the legs out.

(ProGrid Guide - 103.65)

Arizona Roadracers Summer Race Series #1 - ran 18:15, 16th (or was it 15th) place overall, 3rd in my age division. This year was much more competitive than last year. More details to follow later. Have to take the boys now to the ward triathlon.

OK, time for more details. The weather for the race was absolutely perfect, 59 degrees and cloudy. Warmed up with (and around) Lybi for 2 miles, did a few striders to get a feel for the pace I wanted to run. Because the park gates only opened at 6:30, they had a staggered start on this race, with a handicap assigned according to age and gender. Mine was supposed to be 13:58, however, due to crowding I didn't get to go until about 15 minutes after the start. Since the race was chip-timed, no big deal in terms of the time, but it left a LOT of slower runners in front of me.

First mile: 5:59. This mile was the slowest of all my miles because I was having to constantly weave in and out of slower traffic that was taking up all the available space on the course. Sometimes I had to almost stop so that I could thread through a gap. Otherwise, the first mile felt pretty good.

Second mile: 5:53. Still having to spend quite a bit of time weaving through slower traffic, and this mile also included the turnaround, which I hit in 19:15, but in general the course was clearer. Towards the end of this mile, I started to adopt the Sasha method of groaning/grunting as I was breathing out.

Third mile: 5:50. Spent pretty much the entire mile grunting/groaning, legs were starting to burn, breathing was pretty taxed. I was still able to pass a few runners on this mile.

Last 0.11 - 34 seconds. I was amazed that I had enough left in the tank to average 5:09 pace for the last .11.

I was pretty dead tired when I finished, but got to see Lybi come in later and beat her time - hurray! I was also happy that cardio-wise, I seemed to recover pretty quickly - after about 3-4 minutes, I was pretty much back to normal. That speaks good things to me about my cardiovascular fitness. Since I haven't really done any speed workouts yet, and still don't intend to until I reach 50 miles/week, overall I am very happy with the result. Had there not been all the congestion in front of me, I would have been very close to breaking 18:00, and in any case, I PR'd by almost a minute from my last 5K. So silver goal achieved, no knee pain at all, just some tight and sore muscles in my hamstrings and calves. I will get Lybi to massage me later on.

PM - ran 1 mile with Samuel, then 0.65 with Joey. Later on, ran 4 easy miles at 8:15 pace. Legs felt recovered, the run felt nice and easy.

(ProGrid Guide - 109.3)

AM - ran 3.5 easy miles with Sparky, then another 2 miles by myself. All at recovery pace - 8:31/mile for the 5.5 miles this morning. Will run with the boys either later this morning or this afternoon. As it is Memorial Day, I don't have to work today either. Legs are feeling better from the effort on Saturday. The sorest muscles are my quads and calves, and my calves are by far the sorest muscles. But thanks to my personal masseuse, I am doing quite well.

PM - Ran 1 mile with Sam in 10:37, then 0.65 miles with Joey in 6:56.  Sam's mile was interrupted by a spill onto the sidewalk - we walked it off, then resumed runner.  He was quite a trooper today, with a little bit of encouragement. 

(ProGrid Guide - 116.45)

AM - 2.5 miles on my own at 8:10 pace, then 3.5 miles with Sparky, average pace of 8:40/mile. I didn't realize we ran that slow, but Sparky didn't want to run any faster, and I didn't want to push him too hard. Legs feel good. I can still feel some lingering soreness in my calves when I run my hand over them, but overall not too bad. Coach Lybi and I have decided that this will be all easy miles this week with no increase in mileage from last week, and I will shoot for 50 next week, to give my body a bit of a break after the race. However, I consider it to be a very good sign that I am rarin' to go and every day, I want to run more miles than I have already run. Either that, or I'm just plain weird . . . :)

PM - ran 1 mile with Samuel - he seems to run better when he is holding my hand - some psychological thing (even though he set his record on his own).  Then 0.65 with Joey.  He was really booking it, but caught the toe of his sandal right at the end and biffed it.  Poor guy :( 

(ProGrid Guide - 124.1)

AM - 2.5 easy miles by myself, then another 3.5 miles with Sparky.  Average pace for the total run was 8:17/mile, I averaged 8:14/mile for my run, and about 8:19-8:20/mile with Sparky.  Knee feels fine, I think I am going to stop mentioning it as it seems to be completely better.  Calves were a bit tight this morning, stretched them out good after the run.

On a side note, I got confirmation this morning that the animal I saw the other day was *NOT* a mountain lion.  During the run with Sparky, I ran right past the creature (er, dog) going the opposite direction.  It is a bit darker tan than a yellow lab and slightly smaller, has a dark muzzle, but didn't even give us a second glance as we ran past it.  I can't say the same for myself . . . that encounter certainly got the adrenaline pumping.  I just don't like dogs that are not on leashes.  They are too unpredictable.

AM - got to bed late, so I slept in and did not run this morning. Figured the sleep was more important.

PM - ran 7.5 miles outside by myself. The weather was lovely, if a bit warm - about 85 degrees, although it didn't feel that hot. Maybe that means I am acclimating to the heat due to increased fitness . . . in any case, my time was 1:00:08, average pace of 8:01/mile. Felt very good. My right achilles started to bother me a little bit toward the end of the run, I stretched it out good and will have Lybi scrape and massage it. I am leaning towards getting the actual scraping tools instead of using our wooden salad spoon or the blunt edge of a knife. I am also thinking about maybe doing the Provo River 10 miler or 1/2 instead of the TOU marathon - that would be easier to get to, and we could take the whole family, as opposed to just me going to the TOU 1/2 marathon.

(ProGrid Guide - 129.95)

AM - Ran 3.5 miles with Sparky, who appeared overjoyed to be able to run, after not being able to do so yesterday. Average pace of 8:12/mile, including a warmup mile of around 8:40. He did very well, no "dog" sighting today. I wore the sock on my right foot last night to help my achilles stretch a bit during the night, it felt much better today.

PM  - ran 1 mile with Samuel in 10:07, only 1/4 mile of which I held his hand.  He did very well.  Then 0.65 with Joey in 6:45.  Later on, I ran 2.5 miles on the treadmill - started out nice and easy for the first 1/2 mile at 8:30 pace, then picked up the pace once I was warmed up.  Next mile at 7:30 pace.  Picked up the pace again for the last mile to 6:40 pace.  Felt good.  I think I have come up with the perfect idea - either Lybi or I will run the Provo River 1/2 marathon, and then one of us will run the St. George 1/2 marathon.  I don't think it will make a difference in terms of which of us runs which, although the St. George 1/2 may end up being hotter.  Either that, or one of us (probably me) would run the TOU 1/2 a few weeks after the Provo River 1/2 marathon, and I would just fly up alone.  We will have to talk about it and figure out what the best approach would be. 

AM - Ran 10 miles by myself, felt very good to get out (relatively) early in the morning and start the day off right. Started off nice and easy, then after the first 1/2 mile or so, got into a good grooove of running 8:20 miles up through mile 8. Then I started to get a bit bored, and decided to speed things up a bit and get in a little MP effort. Took a 1/2 mile to slowly ramp things up, then ran 1 mile at MP (6:49), then cooled down for the last 1/2 mile. Lybi scraped my calf and achilles last night, so that felt better this morning, but I am still experiencing some PF issues with my left foot. I need my new strassburg sock! Gotta call Steve and find out when it should be coming in - he had to special order one. Will run with the boys later on.

PM - ran 1 mile with Samuel in 10:09, then 0.65 with Joey in 6:46 (10:10 pace), then about 400 feet with Adam.  Puts my total mileage about the same as last week, and I feel ready to top 50 miles next week.

(ProGrid Guide - 141.6)

AM - ran 3 miles on my own in 24:00, then another 3.5 with Sparky in 29:40 - 2(t_vbp) (for Sparky, not for me!). Felt very good, legs felt better after a good long scraping session last night. Right achilles still a little sore, and my left arch is also still a bit sore as well, but nothing bad enough to keep me from running. Continued stretching, massage and scraping will get me through, I think, as well nights with the sock on my left foot. Will do another 1.65 with the boys this evening. My plan for this week is to get in 50-51 miles, which will be the first week this year, I believe, where I have broken 50 miles. I am very excited about St. George, and feel I will be better prepared this year than ever before.

PM - ran 1 mile with Samuel in 10:15, then 0.65 miles with Joey in 6:50.  Joey is so funny - he pushes himself so hard that he starts to struggle, I tell him to slow down, and he replies back, "I just did", then off he goes again, and often ends up starting to run even faster.  He does well by himself, but doesn't deal well with failure against competition - he often just quits.  This is something I would like to work on with him. 

AM - ran 3.35 miles by myself in 26:00, then ran 3.3 miles with Sparky in 27:38 - t_vpb (Sparky). Both runs felt very good. I felt like I was really in a groove on my run - I started off nice and easy, and then after the first miles, just started hitting 7:40 miles without trying. I need to be careful and take it easy the rest of this week, especially since I am increasing my mileage.

PM - Lybi had taken the boys swimming when I got home, so I was able to get a quick 15-minute power nap.  It really helped the rest of the evening.  Ran 1 mile with Samuel in 10:14, then 0.65 with Joey in 7:05.

(ProGrid Guide - 149.9)

AM - 3 miles by myself in 24:00, then 3.35 miles with Sparky in 27:20.  Legs felt good, in spite of not quite getting enough sleep.

PM - ran 1 mile with Sam in 9:56, then 0.65 mi

es with Joey in 6:55. They both did really well today. It was pretty windy, so I held their hands whenever we ran into the wind.

AM - ran 3.5 miles by myself, then 3.5 miles with Sparky.  On my run, started out nice and easy for the first 1/2 mile, then after I was warmed up, I started hitting 3:5x 1/2 mile splits consistently, which felt very good.  On the last 1/2 mile, I decided to spice things up a bit, and was shooting for marathon pace, but overdid it just a bit and ended up with a 3:13 last 1/2 mile, more like 1/2 marathon pace.  Oh well, it still felt good to open up a bit.  Time for my run was 26:51, average pace of 7:40/mile, mostly due to the last 1/2 mile.  On my run with Sparky, no vpb stops today, we ran the 3.5 miles in 28:30, average pace of 8:09/mile.  Perhaps a little faster than I had wanted and a reason why he tried to slow down a couple of times.  Tomorrow I will need to take it a little easier with him.  Due to Webelos scouts this evening, I probably will not be able to get in a run with the boys today.

PM - was able to run with Samuel - 1 mile in 10:06.

(ProGrid Guide - 157.90)

AM - slept in a little because I didn't get to bed early enough, just had time to run with Sparky this morning. 3.5 miles in 29:20, average pace of 8:25/mile. My right calf was a bit sore this morning, but after about 1/2 mile, it loosened up. I will try to get it massaged tonight.

PM - ran 1 mile with Samuel in 10:01 - he did extremely well tonight.  Lybi joined us (unshod), and I think that helped him out a bit.  Then ran 0.65 with Joey in 7:00 flat, also with Lybi.  Had family scripture study, then helped get the boys to bed and ran another 2.5 by myself at 8:00 pace.  Legs are still a little sore.  My shin muscles are also sore, I think from Webelos scouts yesterday where the boys were finishing with their fitness pin and one of the exercises was the standing broad jump.  Me being the competitive person I am, I decided to jump with them.  I did something like 8'8" or something a bit more, but I'm pretty sure I gave my shin muscles a good workout they were not used to.  Should go away within a couple of days, with massage helping.

AM - 10 easy miles. 5 outside in 39:55, then 5 on the treadmill (so Lybi could run outside) in 40:37. Average pace for the total run was 8:03/mile. I got my calf massaged and scraped last night, and it feels better today, although I still have a knot in there that needs to be worked out. I also took the stick to my shin muscles, and although sore, they also feel better this morning.

On a side note, on the outside portion of my run, I passed by a pretty nasty accident. A semi and a car had somehow collided - don't know if it was head-on or not, but the police had the entire side of the road blocked off. I thought about this and how sometimes I feel a bit rushed on the road, and this leads to my feeling more tense than I should. I think there is a difference between driving the speed limit and feeling tense, and driving the speed limit and feeling calm and relaxed. This is what I want to be.

PM - ran 1 mile with Samuel in 10:02, then 0.65 with Joey in 6:40.  Both of them did very well. 

(ProGrid Guide - 169.55)

AM - 6.5 miles total at about 8:08 pace. First ran 3 miles by myself at 7:56 pace (including the first 1/2 mile being at about 8:30 pace), then ran 3.5 miles with Sparky at around 8:15-8:20 pace. Felt good, my calf feels better today (after having gotten tortured on Saturday by Lybi), and I still feel nice and fresh after my first 50-mile week this year. I am planning on adding a couple more miles this week, probably make my long run 12 miles, but nothing much more. Perhaps I will do a bit of tempo miles, depending on how I feel, but that's about it.

PM - 1 mile with Samuel in about 11:00, all of us unshod (look how Lybi has corrupted me!).  Actually, my theory was that perhaps running barefoot might help me to deal with the PF I have been experiencing by strengthening the arch and the muscles around the foot.  It certainly didn't feel bad at all.  I might try continuing this experiment the rest of the week.  Sam also ran barefoot (at his own insistence) and did very well.  We ran slower to help him learn about running barefoot and to pay closer attention to the surface and avoid stepping on rocks.  As it was, he still stepped on a few.  After Samuel, ran another 0.65 with Joey, also barefoot (and him too - same reason).  He also did very well.  I stepped on a pretty big rock this time, with it landing right in the middle of my arch - that kind of stung for a while, but went away after about 30 seconds.  We will see how this experiment works out.  I am excited, and if it helps me to run faster and stay healthy, then I am all for it.

On a side note, we are still trying to decide what to do about a 1/2 marathon for Lybi and one for me.  We are leaning towards one of us coming up for the Provo River 1/2 - either Lybi will fly up, or I will drive up.  Then one of us will either do the St. George 1/2 or there is also a 1/2 marathon up in Prescott (about 5100' elevation) that is actually fairly flat.  Sasha has already indicated he thought the Provo River 1/2 would be a good PR course for Lybi - gentle downhill for most of it.  And to tell the truth, I'm not too fussed either way - I am certain that I will be able to get a PR on either course, weather permitting.

Ran 5 miles outside this morning, without Sparky (Lybi got to run with the doggy today). I had decided last night that I was going to get in some MP effort on my run today. I had two goals going into the run: 1) maintain MP, which for me is currently 6:50 pace, and 2) be able to maintain proper form and good breathing. I think I was able to achieve both goals, although my second two miles were a bit too fast. Warmed up for the first mile in abouot 8:22, then started the tempo run. Below are my splits:

Mile	Time	Comment
1	6:52	This was absolutely perfect, exactly where I wanted to be. 1/2 mile splits were 3:27 and 3:25.
2	6:33	Oops - I didn't mean too run this fast, although it still felt good. It's almost as if I was getting warmed up the first mile, and then continued to speed up as I got into a groove. 1/2 mile splits were 3:17 and 3:16.
3	6:36	This would have been even faster than the second mile, had I not slowed down the last 1/2 mile (purposefully). First 1/2 split was 3:15, second 1/2 split was 3:21.

Cooled down the last mile in 7:41 (I thought I was running much slower), then came inside and finished with 2 nice easy miles on the treadmill at 8:30 pace.

So the good news is that it felt very good and sustainable. My breathing was good throughout, and I felt like I was able to maintain good form. This is a good sign to me that my fitness is greatly improved, as is my resting HR - have I mentioned before that my resting HR is now somewhere in the vicinity of 50 bpm (if not a little lower)? I am totally jacked about that. I don't remember the last time it was that low. My next race will be the Arizona Road Racers Summer Race Series #3 (another 5K) in July, and I am excited to see what I might be able to do at that race. I think I will be able to hit another PR, maybe dip under 18:00.

PM - ran 1 mile with Samuel, barefoot, he ran barefoot too, but didn't do as well today.  It turns out he ended up giving himself a blister.  We will have him run with shoes for a while.  Ran another 0.65 with Joey, he did good.

(ProGrid Guide - 176.55)

AM - ran 3 easy miles by myself at 8:05 pace, including the first 1/2 mile at 8:30 pace. Then ran 3.5 miles with Sparky at 8:18 pace (after a bit of calculation, since Lybi is using the Garmin right now). Total time for the run was something like 53:18, right around there. Lower legs were a bit sore today, probably a combination of the tempo run and the barefoot running. Otherwise I am feeling good.

PM - ran 1 mile with Samuel in 10:33, he was shod, we were not.  Then 0.75 with Joey, don't remember the time, but he ran barefoot as well.  Found a couple of slight blisters on the balls of my feet this evening, so no more barefoot running until they heal. 

AM - 5 mile easy run by myself in 39:33, then 2 more easy miles on the treadmill in 16:00. The pace on the outside portion felt nice and easy, although I could at times feel the blisters on the balls of my feet. Not very much discomfort - just enough to know that they were there. On the treadmill run, I started out at 8:30 pace for .25 miles, then increased the speed to 8:00 pace. I will admit that for the second mile, I bumped up the speed a little bit more just so I could average 8:00/mile on the treadmill :)

Another 1.65 or so planned with the boys this evening, but not barefoot. If I don't get to run with the boys because of Webelos Scouts (we have pack meeting today), I will just run a couple more miles, nice and easy.

PM - did not get the chance to run with the boys - we all went to pack meeting and didn't get back until about 7:30, which was time to read scriptures and get the boys to bed.  After the boys were down, I ran another 2 miles on my own at 8:00 pace.  Felt good, but my calves are both a bit tight, probably from the barefoot running.  I will abstain for a few days (I have to let the blisters heal anyways). 

(ProGrid Guide - 185.55)

AM - 3 easy miles by myself in 8:10 pace, then another 3.35 with Sparky at 8:16 pace.

PM - 1.65 miles by myself (I was asked by one of our friends to come help him move a piano they had just bought, and that consumed a fair amount of time, so I didn't get to run with the boys).  Helped to loosen up the legs.  Planning on 12 tomorrow morning (8 outside and then another 4 on the treadmill so that Lybi can run outside), then the normal run with the boys. 

AM - long run, 13 miles. Got up early, ran to the store to get some gels, on the way back had to stop at the gas station for a pit stop, then headed out. I had a small bottle full of gatorade with me, and one extra gel (I had eaten the other one as soon as I got out of the store). Got going, and got into a nice groove. I was running somewhere between 7:50-8:00 pace. Stopped halfway and took my other gel, finished most of the gatorade. I decided I don't like running with a bottle in my hand - it made my shoulders tense up and get kind of tight. I felt very good throughout the run. At 10 miles, I was starting to get kind of bored, so I decided I would do some MP miles to see how I could handle it at the end of a long run. I was originally thinking I would do the last 3 miles at MP, but after the first, two, I was pretty tired and decided to just cool down the last mile. First MP mile was in 7:10 - a little slow, but I was getting into a rhythm. Second MP mile was in 6:45 - more along the lines of what I was shooting for. Total time of 1:40, average pace of 7:41/mile. The Garmin was off because I didn't push the start/stop button when I stopped at the 1/2 way mark, so it kept recording. I took a minute off the total Garmin time, which is about how long I stopped.

When I got home, I found myself feeling absolutely ravenous. I went to the store and picked up some breakfast (protein drink, odwalla bar and gatorade). I also weighed myself, and was only 162.6, which is the lowest I have been since Lybi and I got married. Sasha and I had previously agreed that 50 mpw seemed to be the magic number for me, and I have really seen the pounds start to come off. I am so excited - I know that every pound I lose will make it that much easier for me to achieve my goal at St. George. I am very optimistic that I will be able to reach my goal of 155 by the time SGM rolls around.

This is also the highest mileage week I have had since I started running again, period.  I am feeling very good, will plan on maintaining this mileage next week, and then increasing a few more the week after that.  It also looks like we have made a decision on my 1/2 marathon - we will be going to Colorado Springs over Labor Day weekend and I will plan on running the ADT 1/2 marathon.  Although it is at altitude (6100 ft), it is a pretty flat course, out and back, so it should give me a pretty good indication of my fitness.

(ProGrid Guide - 198.55)

AM - ran 3 easy miles by myself at 8:00 pace, then another 3 miles with Sparky at 8:18 pace. I only ran 3 miles with Sparky because it was pretty hot, and he was panting pretty hard. Not sure if we will be running with the boys this evening - we have a heat advisory until 8 pm.

PM - ran 2.5 miles on the treadmill while Lybi ran outside.  Started off nice and easy, first mile at 8:30 pace, then increased the speed to 7:30 pace.  For the last 1/2 mile, I ran at 6:40 pace.  Felt good to get the legs turning over at a good rate. 

AM - ran 5 miles outside, then 2 inside on the treadmill. Kept a nice easy pace for the first 2.5 miles, turned around, and a little bit later decided I wanted to get in some MP effort miles. 2 MP miles, then cooled down the last 1/2 mile. It was already fairly hot out - almost 80 degrees at 4:50 AM. Gotta love those Arizona summers . . . the two miles on the treadmill were at 8:00 pace.

PM - ran another 2 miles on the treadmill at 8:00 pace.  Felt good, got into a good rhythm. 

(ProGrid Guide - 178.55)

AM - ran 4 miles on my own at 8:00 pace, including a nice easy warmup.  Took a little while for the legs to get warmed up and loose, in spite of the warm temperatures (it was 80 degrees when I went out this morning at 4:50 AM).  Came back and got Sparky, ran 3 miles with him at an average of 8:18/mile.  With the increased heat, we definitely have to be more careful with him in making sure he does not overheat.  Plan to run another couple of miles later in the evening.  It is now too hot in the afternoon to run with the boys, so we are just having them run on the treadmill.  So far they seem to be enjoying it.

AM - had to wake up at 4 am to do some work since I am on call this week, went back to bed afterwards and slept until 6:30.

PM - after Webelos scouts and getting the boys mostly down, I hopped on the treadmill (it was still more than 100 degrees outside and I didn't feel like overheating tonight). Felt very good tonight, especially after having fasted today in a ward fast. First 6 miles at 8:00 pace, then the last 3 miles at 7:30 pace. Total time was right around 1:11 for 9 miles, average pace of 7:53/mile. Sounds about right . . .

(ProGrid Guide - 187.55)