Don't Sacrifice the Gift.

6-Virgin River Trail- So I decided that I would like to run the marathon again this year. So I thought I would start this up again to kind of help me stay motivated.  I have been running off and on but I'm not to where I would like to be.  So I am hoping that this will help to see my progress and motivate to continue. 

Today I started from the university and headed for the river trail and then proceeded on that down to the Dixie Center. I did 6 miles with 2x 1 mile tempo.  Each tempo mile was about 7 minute pace which I am pleased with right now.  I would like to be at a faster pace soon though, at least during the recovery portion, which today tended to be around 9 minute pace.  The whole first half of the run there was a horrible head wind.  This made the first tempo mile rather difficult. Much better on the way back.

5- Reverse Marathon-- It was hot today.  Felt pretty good today. I was feeling a little iffy in my stomach but I think that may have been due to starting a little too soon after lunch.  My lips are starting to get chapped and I was starting to get a little cottonmouth about half way through the run, so I will make sure to start drinking more water.

6-auto mall--  After dropping off the car to the Mrs. I ran down from the school toward the car dealerships, then back home. Today I felt really really good. At least until about half way when my shins started to feel a bit tight.  But even then, I felt really solid.  It was lightly raining which made the temperature perfect!  Overall a really nice run.  I will need to make sure I am stretch, icing and taking care of my legs.

8- Red Hills Prkwy-- Was pretty tired today.  My legs started to get really tight and tired about one mile into the run.  Especially my shins.  But after a few miles they started to loosen up a bit.  I am not really surprised though. This was the longes run that I have gone on in a long time and I have been doing a few more miles than I had been previously each day.  I just need to remember to take care of myself and make sure that I am stretching and icing.

So other than that, it was a beautiful morning, the temperature was nice and cool and I ran past literally hundreds of cyclist down diagonal... I think there was a race or something, but I was a bit taken aback...

AM: Woke up early inorder to do a little workout with Courtney.  We did the Dirty 30.  Basically a toddler version of Beast-n-Feast.  It was nice to do a little workout that will help with arm and core strength.

PM: 5- Pixel Heart-- It was hot again.  If I am thinking that it is hot now, I am not really looking forward to the 110 degree summer coming up.  I felt pretty tired again today. I had a day off yesterday, this week is a five day week for me and I think the tiredness was more of the post weekend groggyness. 

5-Automall-- It was pretty hot today. I was thinking of doing my long run today instead of saturday but I am glad that I decided not to because of the heat. I was pretty excited, today was the first run in a while what my average pace was under 8 minute pace. That felt good!

10-Foremaster-- So, since there was no college today because finals start tomorrow, I was able to run in the morning before it got to terrible hot.  I decided to do this weeks long run today and glad that I did.  I didn't feel any sort of pain or soreness in my shins or legs until about the last mile or so when the top of my foot started to hurt a bit. I did feel a little tired but that is to be expected when running the longest run I have done in a long time.  I am glad I went when I did, because it was getting hot toward the end of it.

5- Red hills-- Felt pretty great today.  I thought I would be a little sore after yesterday's run. But no, I was feeling great! It was a bit rough at one point but that was due to this hill that was determined to take me to the grave... I won.

3-CoastaVida-- Ran up to coasta vida, this has become like my article circle route.  Since it was my short run day, I tried to take it at a faster pace.  I felt pretty good for the most part.  I am glad I was able to keep a good pace.  My legs were a little tired and I can feel my shins start to get a bit tender.

3-Coasta Vida-- Felt great today. The temperature wasn't too hot and there was a nice cool breeze the whole time.  My legs felt great, I ended up going a faster pace than I did saturday, and I wasn't even trying to today.  I felt really good. My legs feel pretty fresh.

10-Midway wash/Santa Clara river Trail-- Not bad today.  The first few miles my legs felt a little tired but around mile 4-5 they started to feel better and I started to get into a nice groove. Unfortunately the loop was longer than I had planned on running so I stopped before getting back home and walked the rest of the way. It was a nice little cool down. Overall a nice run.

4-Bluff Bridge--Felt pretty tired today.  It was getting fairly hot and my legs weren't feeling great. Specifically my shins.

6-Middleton--Got up early this morning so I could get my run in before Court's graduation. Super excited for her. The run felt pretty good today. My legs a feeling a bit better from the other day. Although still pretty tender.

7-Virgin River Trail-- Added in 2X one mile tempos.  Felt pretty good for the most part today. I decided that I wanted to do a couple of mile tempos. And I am glad that I did. 

5-Vernon Worthen--Ran down to the park today to do some barefoot for a couple of miles.  Felt pretty good! They just added a sidewalk and the grass right next to it so it felt really nice.  The only bad thing was that I stepped on a sprinkler head and bruised the bottom of my foot...

7-Reverse Marathon--Ran up the course until the turn around for 7 miles.  It was pretty hot, I kept asking myself why I decided to wait until mid afternoon in St. George weather to go for a run? Ended up being a pretty good run though!

3-CV-- Nice easy run to let the legs recover a bit.  As I am working up to get more milage throughout the weeks and months, I want to make sure that I don't over do it and hurt myself.  This run was nice for that reason.  Not very long and I took it easy to get the gunk out of my legs. My legs feel less tight and I feel refreshed.

12-Halfway/SC trails-- This morning was awesome. Nice and cool and I felt pretty great.  I took it a little slower but not a ton. It is nice when you get into a grove and you can zone out a bit on the longer runs.  The loop looks like it is actually closer to an 11 mile loop instead of a 12 like I thought, so I had to add on a bit at the end. Nice long run and was able to get some good strentching in afterwards.