faster with age

Nice morning. overcast with temps in the 50s and no wind with a few occasional rain drops. I ran 12 miles at 8:04 pace and my hip seemed to be fine after 2 days off.

     PM   4 miles easy after dark.

     We had a lot of rain last night so I had to stick to the pavement this morning. I rode a total of 42 mles on my road bike. I had a close call with a car. I was going somewhere around 20 mph and came around a left curve in the road. I usually cut the corner [the road dosen't have much traffic and has no center lines] but I saw an oncoming car and made sure to stay on my side of the road. As I was coming out of the curve she turned right across in front of me to pull into a driveway on my side of the road. I locked up both wheels, skidded and was able to miss hitting the side of her SUV by a foot or two. I yelled out something I won't repeat as I got past her. Her husband was in the front yard and saw the whole thing and appeared to get upset with her as I was heading down the road. I'm sure she never even saw me and was only looking at the driveway she was turnig into.

     PM   Ran 2 miles in five fingers as a massive thunder storm was moving in. It was awsome to see the leading edge of the storm come right over but there was lots of lightning and it started getting too close so I came in. I was planning to run 5 but it has rained hard ever since.

     Ran 8 easy miles this morning. 8:19 pace.

     PM   6.5 miles. didn't get out till almost 11 o'clock. 2 miles were in five fingers. Overall pace 7:59.

     Went for 30 miles on the mt bike this morning. The whole first half of the ride was climbing and into a strong north east headwind and I was always going either north or east. Looking forward to the second half the whole time. Started out the first few miles of the second half cruising at 30 plus MPH with a nice tailwind. After about 4 miles the wind quit completely then actually became a strong headwind for the last few miles. How come I never get a tailwind both ways?  

     PM     ran 5.25 miles at 8:45 pace.

     Early afternoon run. Went 8 miles at 8:11 overall pace. There was a very strong wind and it caused my pace to vary anywhere from 9 min. to 7:06 depending on when I had a headwind or tail wind. It started to thunder and lightning and then rain during the last mile. Luckily that was one of the tailwind miles and I ran it the fastest.

     Didn't get out until about 6 pm. Perfect running weather with temps in the upper 50s and overcast. I was hoping to get a decent length run in but figured I would just go and see how I felt. Most of my runs this week I haven't had a lot of energy. I think that's because I added a lot of extra distance and intensity to the bike rides I did. My first mile felt the same way but after that my pace picked up without thinking about it and I was feeling good so I ended up going 15 miles which is my longest since SGM in October. It's also the first time I have run over 60 miles in a week since last July just before I tore my hamstring. My first mile was 8:23 and the fasteast was my last mile at 7:09. Overall pace for 15.2 miles was 7:39.

     This morning I ran 12.25 at 8:38 pace. There were off and on rain showers and wind. At one point I was running into a stiff headwind with the rain coming down and was reminded of the St George Mar. last year. I was glad I didn't have to worry about the pace and after a mile and a half I got to turn and make it a crosswind rather than 26 miles of headwind.

PM 4.1 miles slow. 2 were in five fingers.

     Rode 36 miles on my road bike this morning. The back roads were still to muddy from yesterdays rain.

     PM    Ran 5.25 miles slow while my son road along on his bike.

     It was really pouring this morning [3/4 of an inch] so I went out at noon. It drizzled a little off and on but wasn't bad. I ran 8 miles at 8:37 pace.

     Was planning a bike ride this morning but woke up to a downpour again. My rain gage is almost up to 2 inches since Tues. The rain let up around noon but I couldn't get out until about 3. It had looked threatening all day so I took a pack with a fleece jacket, gloves, and a hat but no long pants. Of course about a mile in it started to rain. I was on a gravel road that has a sandy base so it doesn't get too muddy but it does throw up a lot of grit with the road spray. A couple of miles of that and it cleared up again and was nice until 5 miles to go. I figured I could just tough it out for the last 5 in my thin tech shirt but it started to thunder and lightning and really dump. I was glad I had the warmer stuff to put on but should have had some long pants. I got totally soaked before I got home. Being a farmer  that has just been through several years of drought and a lot of praying for rain I tell myself that I refuse to complain about rain although days like this it can be tough not to. Went 20 miles total on the mt bike. Hoping to get a run in sometime later.

     PM easy 4 mile run.

     It wasn't raining this morning until I got out running then we got a bit but not to bad. I ran 8.5 miles total. The first 4.5 miles at 7:53 pace then some fartlec the last 4 miles running the first 1/4 of each mile about 6:15 pace and maintaining about 7:45 pace the rest of each mile. Overall pace was 7:37.

     Ran 12 miles up around the reservoir. There was more people than usual because of the free fishing day. Got hit with a little light rain. The road was mostly dry until the last mile before turning around where there must have been a real cloud burst just ahead of me because it got real muddy. Ave pace 7:57.

     Was planning to do the Cache Valley Biathlon today but a new race director took over this year and I guess it got canceled.

     I ran 8 miles this morning. No rain in the beginning but started raining lightly again after a couple of miles. Then it got heavier and started to thunder and lightning. I decided I'd better get back to pavement before it got too muddy and with 3 miles to go [1 milen on dirt] it really turned into a gully washer. I quickly was as wet as I could possibly be but there was no wind and temps were in the mid 50s so it wasn't too bad. I've been carrying a little sandwich bag in my pocket to wrap up my Garmin when I get caught in these storms we keep getting. It keeps it dry and I can still see the numbers and push the buttons. This is so much more rain than I ever remember getting this time of year. I looked at my rain gauge when I got back and nearly 4/10ths of an inch had fallen while I was running and 90% of that had to be in the last 3 miles. The funny thing was that there was blue sky just to the north and south of me the whole time. Overall pace was 8:02

     This morning I went for 24 miles on my mt bike and didn't even get rained on. I had to do an out and back on the road that drys out the quickest [the others would have been to muddy]. I was planning to run a couple of miles in my five fingers but about 1/4 mile into the run I came down on a rock hard right in the center of the bottom of my foot. It was hurting a bit but after about 1/2 mile my to middle toes on that foot started to really burn with each step so I quit after 1.2 miles and put on some shoes to run 1 more mile just to see if that would cause pain also. Running in the shoes seemed to be fine.

     PM    Ran 4.3 easy miles at 8:45 pace. Foot felt fine.

     Ran 8 miles this morning. It started thundering a lot shortly after I got started and I was sure I'd end up in the rain again but it stayed away until I got back.    Ave pace 8:05                                              

     PM   Easy 6 mile run. 2 miles in Five Fingers.  Ave pace 8:37                                                                 

     Had to leave quite early for a cub scout day camp. After I got home I had to make a trip to down to Salt Lake and didn't get home until 11:30. Had to settle for a big zero on the day.

     This morning I went over to Weston canyon to get in some hill running [up and down]. I ran a 3 mile section that climbs about 400 feet in 3 miles. I started out running down and averaged 7:07 pace for the 3 miles to the bottom then ran back up at a harder effort averaging 7:51 pace then at about that same effort I ran the 3 miles back down at 6:47 pace. Then I road back up on my bike I had stashed at the bottom. On my ride back up a golden eagle flew across in front of me carrying a large live snake. I'm pretty sure it was a rattle snake. It could have been a blow snake [there are a lot of both types up there and I even ran past a large blow snake on my run] but the color and length in relation to thickness really looked like a good sized rattle snake. Average pace for 9 miles was 7:15.

     PM  Very easy 4 mile run at just under 9 min pace.

     Easy 9 mile run. It started raining lightly as usual a couple of miles into the run. It was a light rain and was actually pretty nice until the last 2 miles when it got heavier and then the last 1/2 mile it started just absolutely dumping buckets of rain.

     Nice morning run up around the reservoir. Went 10 miles at 7:59 pace.

     I didn't get out today until after noon with the temp at 79 deg. I ran 4 miles at 8:40 pace and then went 26 miles on my mt bike. It doesn't feel as hot on a bike because of the wind.

     Later PM   Ran 2 more miles after dark. The cooler air felt good. 8:16 pace.

Nice morning for a run with temps in the lower 50s to start and just over 60 at the end. Ran 8 miles. Averaged 8:20 on the first 4 miles then 7:30 pace for the last 4. Last mile 7:11. I also pushed it hard up the hills. Overall pace 7:55.

     PM    Very easy 6 mile run. Started after the sun went down after things cooled down a bit. Finished after dark. 9:17 pace.

     Ran up to the neighbors house to feed their animals this morning then added a little more to make it 3 miles. Then went for 20 miles on the mt bike.

     PM Ran another easy 2 miles.

     Went out to Weston canyon to get in some hill running. I ran the same 3 mile section as last week that climbs about 400 feet. Started out with 1 mile warm up then ran the 3 miles down at 6:33 ave pace. 4 min recovery then 3 miles back up at 7:37 pace. Another 4 min recovery then back down at 6:25 ave pace. It was a nice cool morning but there was about a 10 mph headwind while running down the canyon. Overall pace for 9 miles was 6:52.

     PM  Very easy 4.6 mile run at around 9:15 pace

      It was 46 degrees and calm this morning. Perfect for running. I just went for an easy 8 mile recovery run at 8:47 pace. Legs were a little tired after yesterdays harder run but not too bad.

     5 mile run this morning at 8:24 pace.

     PM 6.25 miles after dark at 8:44 pace.

     I went for a 5 mile morning run and then 26 on my mountain bike 2/3s of the ride was on dirt.

     PM   3 easy miles after dark.