faster with age

     Happy new year!!  

     Ran 5 easy recovery miles this morning at 9:03 pace. Everything felt pretty good after yesterdays tempo. My back was a little tight to start out but loosened up and felt ok.

     I ran 3 m this morning in the blowing rain. I had planned a bike ride but had a hard time getting motivated to ride in that strong wind with rain.

     PM  I almost wimped out on my bike ride today but finally got out there and did it. The rain wasn't as bad but the roads were very wet and slushy. I did 19 miles. 4 miles on pavement and the rest on gravel roads covered with melting packed snow and ice and mud. We had about 18 inches of snow on the ground and after the last couple warm days and the rain it's about half that. I was getting covered with mud and slush and getting soaked and just wanted to get the ride over with but realized I wasn't cold and I was getting as great workout in the tough conditions and it became fun. I even went 4 miles farther than planned. It's amazing how your attitude can change everything. I jumped a flock of 60 or 70 sharptail grouse and that was a neat sight. With about 6 miles to go the wind switched and started blowing from the north and a wet snowy sleet started blowing sideways and would sting my face. Luckily the wind was at my back most of the rest of the way which made it a great ride. . I got hame soaked and totaly covered with mud. Great fun! Glad I got out.

     This morning I didn't run until 9:30 but the temp was only up to 10 deg. It was sunny and calm so it wasn't to bad. I went 11 miles at 8:19 pace.  That's my first run over 8 miles in a month so I took it easy. My back felt good. My hip pain keeps hanging around but has been manageable.

     It's been cold. Yesterday when we got home from church it was a sunny 2 deg. Last night when I went to bed it was -15 deg and dropping. I was thinking at the rate it was headed that I would be running in the -20s this morning, which would be a pr [I've run at -12 or -13 a few times] but during the night the clouds moved in and it warmed up 15 deg. to zero. I put on an extra layer [a thin fleece] and realized right away I had overdressed. I had to take off my sweatshirt and a tech shirt which left a light tech shirt and the thin fleece. I wasn't sure why I felt that comfortable until I turned back at 4 miles and realized I had been running with a bit of a tail wind. Running back into that wind changed everything and I quickly had to put the sweatshirt [that I had tied around my waist] back on.  My thighs got pretty cold coming back into the breeze which seemed to get stronger. I should have worn 2 layers on the bottom. I think I got the best ice goatee for this year so far. I ran 8.5 miles at 8:13 pace.

     Much warmer this morning at 18 deg. I ran 4 miles in the snow which kept the pace slow at 9:03.

     Went 15 miles on my bike and it was pretty slow going also.

     My lingering injuries seem to all be doing quite well. I feel like I'm ready to begin a good training cycle for a fast half mar.  Problem is I only have until next week. I did get in a good tempo last week and hope to get one more in this week if I can find a non snow and ice covered stretch of road. Oh well, I guess I'll just go down and have fun and not push too hard or worry to much about my time.

     The temprature around here has been like a yoyo latley. It was in the upper 30s today. I wanted to do a tempo run today but the roads were snow covered this morning. In the afternoon it had mostly melted leaving my 2 mile stretch of pavement wet with some slush but the footing was good. I ran 2 miles in 7:41 and 7:19 Then went 8 miles at 6:57 pace. Pace for all 10 was 7:04.

     This morning I ran 5 miles at an easy recovery pace. I felt real good and almost no back or hip pain after yesterdays harder run. 8:38 pace.

     This morning I did 19 miles on the mountain bike. There's not as many slick places left but the ones left are bad. Had a cold strong north wind I was riding directly into it the first 5 miles which made it nice coming back. The mud was frozen hard which helps.

     PM   Ran 4 easy miles 9:05 pace.

     I ran 13 miles at 7:51 pace. I tried to keep the pace comfortable and it felt that way until the last 3 or 4 miles I could tell I haven't run this far since the SGM 3 months ago. I picked it up on the last mile to 7:18. My back felt great. My hip was a bit sore but never got any worse.

     This morning I ran 7 miles at 8:34 pace. Another warm morning at 34 deg but a strong wind. I ran around 9 min pace for the miles into the wind and ran my last mile in 6:45 which felt much to hard for HM pace even with the wind at my back for most of it. It's interesting how I had to dress the same this morning while I was running into a strong wind at 34 deg as I was last mon at 0 deg without wind.

     Went 15 on the bike. Another warm day with a lot of mud and slush.

     It was back down to 15 deg again but with no wind so not to bad. I ran a 2 mile warmup at 8:24 pace then did 3 miles of fartlek. I started with 1/4 mile at 6:28 pace with 1/4 recovery. Then 3x1/2 mile at 6:45, 6:46, and 6:35 pace each followed by 1/2 mile recovery around 8:00 pace. Then 1/2 mile cooldown. The sun was starting to warm things up a bit and I wanted to keep running but figured I had better keep it short with Painters 3 days away. Overall pace for 5.5 mi. was 7:46

     Another cold morning. I went 15 miles on the bike. There's not many icy spots left and I was able to get around most of them. With the mud all frozen up the bike rolls along a lot easier.

     It was a perfect morning for running and I really like the course. I wasn't quite sure what to expect out of myself for this race. I've been dealing with a few nagging injuries that have kept my mileage low. I have only averaged running 27 miles a week over the last 3 months. I've been adding to that with around 13 converted biking miles a week. Luckily things have been feeling better and I was able to average close to 40 miles the last 3 weeks and got in a couple pretty good tempo runs [still well below what I would have liked]. I ran this race last year in 1:34 and it was the only 1/2 marathon I had done. I felt confident I could beat that and had a goal of 1:30.

     For the first 5 miles I was averaging around 6:47 pace. It felt very comfortable and I was tempted to speed up but I wasn't sure what to expect in the later miles given my lack of mileage so I played it safe. Around mile 5 I started getting a pain on the side of my right knee that I soon recognized as IT band trouble.I had a lot of trouble with this on the same knee 3 years ago while building mileage for my first marathon but I hadn't had a hint of trouble with it the past 2 years. I don't know why it struck then expecially after only 5 miles. I was wearing some Brooks ST racers that I have only worn a few times in a few short races. They are a control shoe and I am a neutral runner. My other shoes are all neutral. I did run a 10 miler last week and a 5 in them this week without any problem so I'm not sure if the shoes could have contributed. It continued to get worse and at around 7 miles I stopped and stretched it which seemed to help. The discomfort came back fairly quickly. I stopped again and stretched it at the aid station around 8 miles. Up until that point I had felt very comfortable [other than my knee]. I pushed it up the climb into the subdivision to try and make up some time and pass a few of the runners that had passed me while I was stopped. This was the first time I started feeling some discomfort [other than my knee]. I had only run more than 8 miles 3 times in recent weeks the longest one being 13 so I kind of expected this. I was able to keep my pace up and stopped and stretched again at the aid station that is around 11 miles. I picked up the pace again and picked it up some more when I thought I was getting close to the finish. I guess I left home Thursday before getting the E-mail about the course change at the end so when I could see the finish up ahead I started my kick. I passed several runners in that stretch and wondered why nobody seemed to be picking up the pace until I crossed the bridge thinking I was within yards of  finishing and saw the route to the finish had an orange fence blocking it and I wasn't done. Running your kick at the end of a race and expecting to be done then knowing you have to dig in and find some more to keep going really sucks. I had no idea how far it would be so I just tried to maintain a decent pace for what seemed to go on forever [It was actually .35 farther]. When I finally passed the 13 mile marker I took off again and still had a good kick left considering.

splits

1 -6:49

2 -6:49

3 -6:28 some downhill

4 -6:47

5 -6:54 uphill

6 -6:39

7 -6:46

8 -6:52 stopped and stretched

9 -6:53 stopped and stretched and uphill

10-6:39

11-6:52 stopped and stretched

12-6:43

13-6:28

.22-1:14 [5:36 pace]

     My garmin measured the course at 13.22 and everybody else I taked to with garmins got 13.17 to 13.31 so I'm not sure what's up with that. Mine has never been off that far before but the course was certified. I went back over the new finish afterward with my garmin and figured the course was .35 mile longer than last years finish. So last years must have been a lot shorter than everybody thought.

     I was happy with the race. I was first in my age group and beat last years time by 7 minutes if you figure in the extra distance [I would have finished around 1:26:20 with last years course finish]. I look forward  to doing a race properly trained some day. I seem to be making a habbit of cramming at the last minute and this has probably contributed to some of my problems.

     It was fun getting to meet some of the bloggers and hope to see you at some other races. We went to Zions and did some hiking the next day and it was beautiful. The IT band was a bit sore expecially on the downhill but not too bad.

     Hiking in Zions park.

     Rest

     1 easy mile IT band felt fine

     I'm planning to not run much this week to make sure my IT band is settled down from the race. It was sore all day Saturday after the race and a bit sore on Sunday while hiking in Zions but has felt fine since. I ran 1 mile yesterday and everything felt fine so I ran 2.5 today at 8:26 pace and everything felt good. I was planning to keep my mileage low for the next 3 or 4 weeks anyway.

     PM 15 miles on the bike.

     Played basketball last night and tried to run the court hard to get a good workout. Everything felt good and my legs felt very fresh. It seems to be better on the IT band because it's not as constant as running. This morning I ran 2.5 miles again making sure I quite before my ITB gets a chance to heat up. I feel recovered from the race but don't want to risk it. 8:23 pace.

     Ran another easy 2 1/2 this morning on ice. It started raining yesterday and through the night but the temperature was below freezing so everything is covered with ice. They even closed school due to the ice on roads. I hate rain in the winter. I like snow. Rain is great the rest of the year. I guess I shouldn't complain about any moisture we get. I have screws in the bottom of one pair of my running shoes and it works quite well on ice. I'm still being cautious with the ITB. No way I'm doing a bike ride on this.

     After taking Sat. and Sun. off I figured my ITB would be ready for some longer runs this week. I quit after running only 2 miles because it was starting to get sore. I'm not sure why it would be worse than last week unless a lot of extra stretching and exersises I have been doing for it has aggravated it. It was 12 degrees this morning and very windy with new snow from last night so I wasn't to excited about a bike ride [mainly the wind]. So I did 30 min. on the eliptical which didn't bother the ITB.

     Last night the IT band on the same side that's been giving me trouble in the knee area got quite sore up in my hip area [which is not the same hip nor pain I had a few weeks ago]. I woke up and couldn't even sleep with it and had to take some ibuprofin. It's been a little sore there since late last week but just got a lot worse. I've barely done any running in the past week so I don't know why this is getting worse. I've been doing a whole lot more ITB stretches this past week and also doing some self massage on it. I wonder if this has brought some of it on. None of the stretches are new to me, but I've been doing them maybe 4 times a day compared to once a week and sometimes missing a week or two in between that I was doing them before. I did the eliptical yesterday also [which I haven't done in a while] but I wouldn't think that would bring it on. I did a 15 mile bike ride today and it felt good until near the end when it got a little sore. I'm going to have to really be cautious the next few days and take it very easy on my stretching and see what happens.

     No running today. I'm not going to run the rest of this week and maybe some of next week. I'll do a little cross training but probably keep that to a minimum. My ITB [hip] was a little sore this morning but nothing like yesterday morning when it was painful to walk. It actually is feeling real good today. I haven't done any stretching yesterday or today and think I'll wait until the pain is gone and then start back up more gently. It's a good time for me to take 3 or 4 weeks extra easy anyway. I don't have any races planned until May.

     Another rest day. Last night I played basketball and got 0 pain from the hip or anywhere else for that matter [other than a spot on my calf that took a knee from somebody]. And I played hard too. I'd have never thought basketball would be good X-training for a running injury but I guess the ITB flares up more after a repetative motion done over time and basketball has too much stop and go. Everything feels good today other than the calf and just a slight sorness in the ITB [hip] first thing this morning but it was much less than yesterday morning.

     Hip and everything else is feeling pretty good. I started lightly doing some stretching again. also adding some core and pelvis strengthening exersises along with some foam rolling.

     Rest

     30 min. eliptical.

     I did a 15 mile bike ride this afternoon mostly on packed snow.  I felt good on the ride and went at a fairly hard effort. My heart rate stayed in the 150s which is close to tempo effort for me. I've hardley done any running or biking the past 2 weeks. Thats probably why my legs felt so fresh today. It was also a very nice day. The temp. started at 3 deg this morning but by the time I went it was close to 30 and calm with lots of sun.

     It's been just over a week since my last short run so I tried it again today. The ITB pain in my knee started to come on again at just over 2 miles so I quit right away. I did 30 min. on the eliptical.

     Headed out for vacation in San Diego.

    My wife and I arrived in San Diego. We walked a couple of miles on the beach.

     We stayed at a hotel on the beach in San Diego. There was a big storm moving through but all the rain came at night and while we ate breakfast. Once we left the restraunt the sun came out. Temps were in the 60s and it was very nice. We only had one short rain shower all day. My wife and I went for a long walk on the beach and there were so many runners that I couldn't take it any longer and had to try a run. I only got 1.5 miles and I could tell my IT band was going to act up so I quit running and walked back to the room. It's been 3 weeks since Painter's and this has gotten no better. I'm not sure what to do. I guess I'll just keep doing the stretching, strengthening, and rolling and give it more time. I've heard massage can help and I think I may try to find somebody good at sports massage. Ended up walking a lot of miles the rest of the day throughout Balboa park.  

     It rained again a lot of the night but cleared up again and got sunny. We spent some more time on the beach with nice weather. Got in a couple more miles walking. We headed out in the afternoon and made it back to Las Vegas where we spent the night.

     Made the 8 hour drive home from Las Vegas. Drove through a lot of rain, hail, and snow.

     Took another day off from running

     PM 45 minutes eliptical

     I wanted to do a bike ride but in the morning it was 20 deg. with high winds. I don't mind the 20 deg but the wind made it hard to get motivated. Later in the day the wind died down but I couldn't find the time during daylight so I opted for the eliptical again but it broke after a little over 10 minutes so I guess this turned into another rest day.

     Another day of no running. I did a 20 mile mt bike ride. It was 22 deg with a light snow falling and no wind. I was suprise that the gravel roads weren't snow packed after recieving 7 inches of snow monday morning.

     I've gained 9 pounds in the 3 weeks since Painter's while I haven't been running. My eating while on vacation contributed a lot to that. I guess until I can run again I'm going to have to start getting more serious about my cross training again.

     Played basketball last night. We only had one sub so I was in pretty much the whole game. Tried to run the court hard and keep moving to get a good workout. I don't get any problems from the IT band doing this.

     I went 15 miles on the mt. bike late morning. It had warmed to 25 deg with sun and no wind. Nice day. Some of the mud was begining to thaw though with the sun on it even though it was below freezing. It has been a week since my last attempt at a run and I think I'll try a short one tommorow and see what happens.

     It was a whole 1 deg this morning. I went for a run. It's been 1 week since my last run of 1.5 miles and almost 4 weeks since Painter's. Since I seem to be able to play basketball  for an hour without the slightest ITB pain [even 4 days after the injury]. I decided to try the Jeff Galloway walk break thing and see if I could get more than a mile and a half. I ran 3 min. and walked 1 min. After making it 3 miles with zero pain I decided I would quit at 4 miles. I got to about 3.75 and started to get an ever so slight pain starting and as tempting as it was to finish off the run I quit right there and walked the rest of the way before finding out if it would get any worse. It felt good to nearly triple what I could do on my last few attempts. Pace including walking was 9:18.

     PM 45 min. eliptical

     20 mile bike ride in a couple inches of snow. A light snow was still falling and  made for a nice ride.  10 min. eliptical.

     4 miles this morning running 3 min. walking 1 min. IT band felt really good but I thought It felt like it was getting a slight soreness just as I was finishing. It was 2 deg. and made for an excellent ice goatee. 9:16 pace. Actual running pace probably close to 8 min.

     PM 15 mile bike ride. It had warmed to 23 deg.

    Ran this morning in a snow storm with about 6 inches of fresh snow. Just went 3 miles with the walk breaks again. I got zero pain. I may try a short run later today. 

     Went in for a massage today. I had some very tight and sore spots on the outside of my hip. She felt like this was probably causing the problem with the IT band in my knee area. I had suspected this also. She got the muscles realy loosened up and feeling good. I think it should help.

     PM Did another short 3.5 mile run with walk breaks. Made sure to quit before I got any pain.

     Ran 4 miles this morning.  Still taking 1 min. walk breaks every 3 min. I think they help me get a lot farther before the ITB flares up.

     26 mile mt bike ride. 17 deg to start but nice and sunny. on snow most of the way. Made the going a bit slower but nice ride. Temp was up around 30 at the end.

     Ran 3 1/2 miles this morning. Still mixing it up with some walking. IT band felt great all the way which makes it really hard to quit but I want to quit before any pain starts. I've been strength training [mostly hip] at least 3 times a week and stretching daily. I'm planning another short run later. I didn't expect this recovery to go quite this slow but it is improving steadily.

     PM Ran another 3 1/2 miles. It was sunny and 36 deg so I went with the shorts. It was so nice I ended up in a short sleeve shirt after warming up. I ran around 7:10 pace during my running segments while intending to be around 8:00. There's something about shedding all those winter clothes. It almost felt like spring other than the foot and a half of snow that's still on the ground. My knee felt great and I felt like going 10 miles but knew I'd be lucky to get one more before it would start to get sore. Overall pace including walking one minute of every four was 8:20.

     Wanted to do a bike ride but was gone all day until after dark so I did 45 min. on the eliptical.

     Freezing rain this morning but the road had a rough enough surface that it wasn't slick. I ran 4 miles with 0 pain all the way with walk breaks at 9:15 pace.

     PM Eliptical for 45 min.

     It rained hard a lot of the night and this morning. Fortunatly it had almost quit when I started running. I ran 4 miles again with walk breaks at a little faster pace than I have been. I finished with 0 pain again which makes it tempting to try to go farther or cut out the walk breaks but I decided my goal for the week was to end every run before any pain starts. Last week each time I did 4 miles I felt the ITB right at the end. So far this week that hasn't happened. Overall pace was 8:45. I figure I lose over a minute per mile with the walking so my actual running was probably closer to 7:45 pace

     PM   The rain cleared out and it was 40 deg. Got out in shorts and short sleeves for another short run similar to this mornings. I went 3 miles at 8:15 pace. Running pace approx. 7:15.

     It's been warm and rainy the last 2 days but cleared up and got a little colder last night. It was back in the 20s this morning so the mud from all the rain was frozen up which made it good for a mt bike ride this morning. I went for 24 miles at a fairly hard effort.

     Got out for 4 miles. I did the walk breaks again but added a minute to the running segments so I was running 4 min walking 1 min. Running pace was around 7:45. Overall pace 8:37. No pain from ITB. It feels like I could just keep going but I'm sure I would probably not get another mile before it flared up.

     Snowmobiling

     I think every muscle in my upper body is a bit sore today from snowmobiling yesterday. We got after it pretty hard in the powder all day and it's the first time out this year. I didn't get out today for a run until late. I was able to get 5 miles without any ITB pain. I cut the walk breaks to one minute walking for every five running. I was tempted to go for six miles but thought I'd quit while I was still ahead. Overall pace was 8:34.

      I met my goal for the week by ending each run before any pain started.

     This morning I ran 6 miles. I walked one min. ran 4 min. all the way. I had no pain from my ITB until maybe just the slightest bit the last 200 yards but so slight I had to really think about it to tell there was any pain starting. Overall pace 8:38. Running pace just under 8 min.

     Went on a 20 mile Mt bike ride. The weather is getting warmer.

      Ran 4 miles this morning and cut the walking back to 1 minute each mile. Running pace was around 7:50 overall pace 8:23. ITB was good. Temps in the 40s. It's over 50 now for I think the first time this year. We still have a lot of snow but it's going fast.

     PM It was 52 degrees out. Was going to run 3 miles but near the end of the first mile I felt a slight discomfort in my knee [ITB] so rather than keep going to see if it got worse I decided to play it safe and call it good with 1 mile.

     Did a 25 mile mt bike ride weather was warm and windy. Another storm is supposed to be coming in for the rest of the week.

     This morning I ran 6 miles for the second time this week with no ITB pain. I did walk breaks again  [1 min. after every 4 min. running]. I think they are still helping me get in more mileage than I could get running continuous. Overall pace was 8:46. Running pace around 8 min.

     Went for 15 miles on the mt bike this morning. It was cold with a strong wind blowing that was a good tailwind most of the way out but very tough riding coming back into the headwind. I would prefer to get the headwind out of the way the first half but I would have had to take the highway to do that. I would rather ride the dirt backroads where there is no traffic. I followed that ride up with a 3 mile easy run.

     Beautiful morning. Sunny and calm with temps in the teens [felt warmer with the sun]. The roads were slick in places. I went 6 miles running 4 min. walking 1 min. Running pace around 8:20 overall pace 9:02. No pain from ITB. I feel like I've really turned the corner with the ITB. The past 2 weeks I've had only one or two runs with slight pain and increased the mileage a bit. 3 weeks ago [4 weeks after the injury] I could only get 1 1/2 miles before pain would start. Hopefully I can continue a gradual buildup from here.

     Ran 6 miles this morning in 4 inches of new snow. Footing wasn,t great. Took 1 min. walk breaks for every 5 min. running. Running segment pace 8:45 overall pace 9:28. No problems from ITB.

     Later I went for a 15 mile mt bike ride. Some sections were packed snow but some areas were getting slushy even though it was still below freezing. The slush sprays up on my backside soaking through the back of my pants. It was also collecting and freezing on my derailures and brakes and making them not work right.Fun fun fun.

     No run. Busy day never got to it.

     PM  Ran 6 miles with walk breaks. Was thinking about going 7 but got slight IT band pain at the end of 6. I spent 5 hours driving this morning and I wonder if that contributed to the IT band pain. It actualy felt a little sore a couple of times during the drive after my knee stayed bent in the same position for a long time. 9:09 overall pace with 10x1 minute walk breaks.  Running segments 8:20 pace.

     Did 15 miles on the mt bike. I decided against a run today after the sorness at the end of yesterdays run and slight discomfort afterward. I'm not sure why that happend yesterday after my last three 6 milers went fine. I don't want to risk going backward with this injury so no run today and we'll see what happens tomorrow.

     Ran 6 miles again this morning. Felt great and even ran a little faster than it felt like. Right at the very end [last 200 m] I started to get some slight ITB pain. It wasn't much but it tells me I'm not ready to add another mile yet. I walked 1 min for every 5 min run again. running pace 7:50. Overall pace including walking 8:33.

     My last two 6 mile runs have caused some ITB soreness right at the end so I cut it back to 4 this morning. It felt good. Hope to get out for another short one later. 8:44 pace including walk breaks.

     PM   I got out and ran another 4 miles and didn't get any ITB pain. I might have to try some more short doubles like this next week. We've still been having single digit temps in the mornings so today when I ran later it was nice and sunny and around 38 deg. for both runs so I ran in shorts. Maybe that's the secret.

     This morning I ran an easy 4 miles at 8:51 pace w/o any breaks.

     PM  I ran another  4 miles at an easy pace with walk breaks. ITB felt good on both runs. It was 40 deg this morning and 54 deg on the later run. The snow is melting fast. It won't be long until a couple of my favorite roads open up.

     Went for 25 miles on the mt. bike this morning. All but 4 miles on dirt. Really nice weather with temps near 50 again. I've been seeing a lot of sanhill cranes and other waterfowl the past couple of weeks on my runs and rides.

     Another 4 mile easy run this morning at 8:55 pace incl. 5x1 min. walking. Zero ITB pain.

     PM   Ran another 4 easy miles at 8:52 pace incl. 2x1 min. walk breaks. ITB good again. Very nice afternoon with temps in the 50s for the third day in a row.

Rode 20 miles on the mt bike. 10 miles of my ride was on road that had been freshly graded which made the ride take at least 10 minutes longer than last week on the same route. Nice day out again.

     Ran 5 miles this morning easy at 9:06 pace incl. 8x1 min. walk breaks.

     PM 4.3 miles easy again but with 1 walk break. 8:25 pace. Great afternoon with our first 60 deg. of the year. ITB still doing good.

     It was 65 deg today when I ran and it felt uncomfortably warm when there wasn't a breeze. It's going to take a bit to get used to that again. I ran 6 miles total with 4x1 min walk breaks and I stopped for 15 min. to feed the neighbors animals who are out of town. 8:52 pace including walking. I got through this week without aggravating my ITB on any runs. I even ran over 30 miles this week for the first time since the 1/2 in Jan.

     Fresh snow this morning with some still coming down but it didn't stick to the roads after last week was like spring.  I ran 5 1/2 miles at 8:38 pace with about a 5 min. break at around 3 miles.

     PM    I ran 4 miles at 8:45 pace. I'm hoping to get through another week without any ITB aggravation and add a few more miles at the same time. So far so good.

     Ran 4 easy miles this morning then went for 20 on the mt bike.

It was snowing again this morning. It wasn't too bad other than the snow blowing in my face while running into the wind. I went 5 1/2 miles at 8:27 pace. I took a 5 min. break at the halfway point.

     PM    It was snowing harder than this morning and still windy. I ran 4 miles at 8:29 pace. The snow was quite peacefull while running with the wind at my back but a different story once turning back into it.

     Temp was back down to 12 deg this morning.  I ran 6 miles this morning and was feeling pretty good. I took a 6 or 7 min. break after the first 2 1/2 miles then picked up the pace a bit and ran 7: 48 pace for the next 3 1/2. 7:24 for last mile. I still wanted to take it pretty easy today but it felt good so I went with it. Overall pace was 7:54. This was by far my best run since injuring my ITB at painters 10 weeks ago and it didn't give me any trouble today. I just need to stay patient and build back gradually. It was hard to quit after 6 miles this morning.

     PM     ran an easy 4 at 9:10 pace.

Ran 5 miles this morning at 8:46 pace. My IT band is still feeling good. This makes 2 weeks in a row without a flairup.

     I think it's winter again. There was snow on the roads this morning with temps at 25 deg with a strong wind. I went 6 1/2 miles at 8:52 pace. The footing wasn't the greatest but it wasn't terrible. I just took it easy and took a 7 or 8 min break halfway.

     PM   Ran 4.2 very easy miles at 9:05 pace. The snow was melted from the roads.

     Went for 25 miles on the mt bike this morning. It was windy and snowing a little. The wind seemed to get stronger as the time went on and unfortunatly the last 7 miles were mostly directly into the wind and the gravel is still a bit loose from being graded a couple of weeks back which made for a long slow ride of about 1:50  but a good workout.

     PM   Ran 5.7 miles slow and easy.

     It seemed more like Jan. than April this morning. Temps were in the lower 20s with a very strong north wind blowing and the roads covered with snow and ice. My first 2 miles were into the wind. The wind was so strong and the footing so poor [even wearing shoes with screws in the bottom] that I was barely running under 10 min. pace with about an 8:30 effort [according to HR]. After that it didn't get a lot better with 3 inches of fresh snow [instead of ice from being driven on] which I enjoy but it is slow. I went 7 miles with an 8 min. break halfway through at 9:03 pace.

      I know spring is coming. I had a flock of 12 swans fly right over me low yesterday on my bike ride [There is about 300 that just returned to Swan Lake up the road in the last 2 weeks]  and I heard a frog croaking in the pond a couple days back which seemed odd with a lot of the ground still snow covered [ it was a warm day] But there was no sign of spring today.

     PM     Ran 4.6 miles easy. Picked it up the last .25 to probably low 6 min pace. Overall pace 8:27

     My son was out of school for spring break this week so he and my wife and I left for southern Utah. We drove down to Arches National park where we met up with my parents. We got one nice hike in before dark.

I was hoping to get a run in this morning but the wind flapped the tent so bad all night that I didn't sleep much until it had calmed in the morning and then I just felt like sleeping in. I sleep well in a tent with the sound of rain or a nearby creek but not in a strong wind. We had a few off and on rain showers but the day wasn't too bad. We did some more hiking including the hike to Delicate Arch.

     This morning we woke up to 3 or 4 inches of snow in the Arches campground. The tent was really sagging under the weight. I was planning to run this morning but the warm bag was just to hard to get out of in the cold tent and I was still tired from not sleeping much the night before. The Moab marathon was supposed to start this morning not too far away and I guess it was canceled but  a couple of guys on the blog [Bill Mandler and Nate the Great] ran it anyway. It sounded like quite an experience from reading their race reports.

      We left camp early and drove down to Canyonlands National Park for the day. Fortunatly it was lower elevation and we eventually got down out of the snow. We did a lot of four wheeling down there including driving over the famous Elephant Hill which is like rock climbing in a jeep. We did a lot of exploring old Anazazi ruins and rock climbing. We got back to our camp up in Arches late after dark.

     Our last day at Arches. I finally got up early enough to take a run although not as long as I would have liked. It was a little cold but a sunny gorgeous morning with the long shadows coming off the red rock spires. There was no traffic out yet either [I think I only passed 2 or 3 cars].  I went 5 miles at 8:06 pace. I would have loved to have gone farther but I was a bit short on time. I ran harder on the last quarter mile uphill to camp at around 7:30 pace.

     We did a lot more hiking today totaling about 9 miles. I ended up with some sore muscles in my arms and shoulders from all the rock climbing on the trip. I also did a 3 1/2 mile bike ride.

     Weather was nice. Never got time for a PM run

     Was able to ride my favorite mt bike loop today for the first time this year. The snow drifts are mostly gone and most of the mud. I went 20 miles and felt good pushing it fairly hard. I averaged 16 mph wich is pretty good for me on this mostly dirt route with a lot of hills.

     PM  easy 4 mile run.

     This morning I ran 8 miles which is my longest run since my ITB flared up in Jan. I did take a 5 min break at the halfway point. I ran up to the reservoir for the first time this year. The ice is half gone and it was covered with ducks and geese. I ran hard up a couple of hills about 7:20 pace up both. One is .15 long the other is .25 long both at least 6% grade. There was hardly any wind until just over 2 miles to go a very strong wind picked up as a front moved in with winds around 30 MPH. I had just run miles 5 and 6 at 7:38 pace but turned directly into the wind with 2 miles left and the same effort ran mile 7 in 8:28. With .4 to go I picked it up into the wind to 7:20 pace wich felt like sub 6 effort. Overall pace for 8 was 7:57.

     PM   4 miles easy. The wind was still blowing bad but not quite as bad as this morning. I ran back and forth on a half mile sretch with the first half of each mile into the wind. I had to run close to 10 min pace to keep the effort as easy as I wanted it while running into the wind. overall pace 9:14

     20 miles on mt bike in a light rain.

     I ran 7.2  miles this morning. I ran hard up a couple of hills and picked it up several other times for anywhere from 100 to 400 meters. Overall pace was 8:11.

     PM  5 easy miles at 8:53 pace. IT band still doing good.

7 easy miles this morning at 8:34 pace. Nice 40 deg morning with no wind. This is by far the best week I've had since my injury.

      9 mile run this morning up around the reservoir. The ice is gone and the loons have returned. The eerie calls they make are a sure sign of spring. I ran the first half at 8:12 pace and then did some fartlec the second half with 3x1/4 mi. at 6:40 to 7:00 pace and 4x1/4 mi. at 6:10 to 6:20 pace with 1/4 mi. recoveries. 6:10 pace felt way to hard. I also ran hard on the hills. Pace for last 4.5 was 7:22 and overall pace for 9 was 7:48. IT band still doing good. Hopefully It's a thing of the past.

     PM   4 relaxed miles 9:12 pace

     I was planning to do a bike ride this morning but it has rained hard all day. I'll run in a heavy rain but I'll usually pass on biking if it's raining hard. I went to the gym in town and hoped to ride the upright bike [they only have one] but it was taken. I didn't have a lot of time so I did the eliptical at a fairly intense pace for 30 min. Then hopped on a treadmill with a few min. left. started at 8 min pace but continued to up the pace until 6:40 to finish at least 1 mile before I had to go.  7:12 pace 

     Ran 4 recovery miles in the rain. It reminded me of the STG mar exept it was 15 deg colder, I only had a headwind half the time today, and when I did have a headwind it wasn't near as strong today.  9:03 pace

Snowing huge wet flakes when I started my run but let up some part way through. I ran a nice easy 7 miles at 8:29 pace.

     PM   Lots of wet heavy snow still coming down. We had to run into town so we went to the gym again and I ran 5 miles on the treadmill starting at 9 min pace for the first mile then cranked it up a bit faster for the rest of the run including some faster pickups. 8:17 pace for 5.

     It was raining like crazy and I wanted to get in a good bike ride [since I hadn't yet this week] So I broke out the road bike for the first time this year because the roads that I mountain bike would be to muddy. I can't wear any raingear [even the most breathable] when I bike or run because I quickly overheat. So I threw on some tech shirts and fleece that don't hold much water and still keep you somewhat warm when they are wet and some good thick polyester / wool blend socks [my cycling shoes are mesh and the water goes right through]. I also wore a pack with some dry socks gloves and an extra fleece jacket in case I got to cold. I was quickly wet all the way through but not uncomfortable [more comfortable than running in 80 plus deg]. It was somewhat windy. It got a little hard to see on a couple of big downhills where I hit 35 to 38 MPH with the rain hitting your face at that speed. I climbed about 400 feet in elevation on the way out to where the rain became snow but it was about as wet as the rain anyway. My feet did start to get cold at the end but I was close enough to being done I didn't bother with the dry socks. I went 30 miles total.

        Late AM 8 mile run. I think this is the first time this week I haven't been in snow or rain. Sunny and in the 40s felt nice. I ran the first four miles at just over 8:30 pace. The second half I threw in 1/2 mile at 6:32 pace Then did a hill run on a 1 mile 6% hill. Ran easy down in 6:58 with a mild wind at my back. I ran it quite hard back up in 7:44. I have never broken 8 min up this hill before but I'm normally doing 3 or 4 repeats when I run it.  Still I felt pretty good with that into the wind and all. Overall pace for 8 was 7:56

     PM  5 miles at 8:34 pace.  

     8 mile run this morning. Nice weather again in the 40s and sunny. Ran a nice easy 8:41 pace. This is the first week I've run over 50 miles since I fell and tore my hamstring the first week of Aug. last year. Since then ,because of various injuries, I've only run over 40 miles 3 times [not counting last week] twice just before the St George mar. and once the week before Painter's half in Jan. I'm sure that just recovering from one injury and then pushing the training too quickly right before each of those 2 races had a lot to do with getting me reinjured . Hopfully I can have good injury free rest of the year.

     Perfect weather this morning. I went 8 miles up to the reservoir. I ran the first 4 at 8:02 pace and the last 4 at 6:52 pace starting with a 7:12 mile and finishing with a 6:22 mile that felt way harder than it should. Overall pace for 8 was 7:27

     PM  6 easy miles.

     I only found time for 10 miles on the mt bike this morning. I grow landscaping trees and spent the day digging a bunch of them.  It was past 9 PM when we were finished and I was worn out so I bagged the run.

     Ran 10 miles this morning. First double digit run in a long time. I didn't have a lot of energy this morning. Must not be recovered from Mondays run yet. 8:22 pace.

     PM 3 more easy miles.

      AM    20 miles offroad mt bike ride.

     Started having some pain in my right knee Wed night. I don't think it was caused by running because it dosen't hurt when I run. It hurts right under the knee cap when I straighten it completely as though it was hyper extended. I just rode my bike yesterday and skipped the run. This morning it was the worst it had been and felt a bit swollen when I first got up and still hurt when I straighten it but it felt better after walking around a bit.Lter in the day I tried running and felt 0 pain so I went for 5 miles including a mile downhill at 7:12 pace then ran back up hard. It climbs about 300 feet in 1 mile and I ran it in 7:51 into about a 7 MPH wind. That's just the second time I have run that hill under 8 min. My knee felt fine but I kept the run short at 5 miles just to be safe. It is still only sore if I straighten it completely. I'll see how it feels tomorrow.  Overall pace 7:56.

My knee was sore again this morning but much better than yesterday. It didn't have the swollen feeling but still hurt to straighten completely. So I figured yesterdays run didn't hurt it any. I ran 5 miles then changed into my Vibram Five Fingers [My wife got for my birthday] and ran a mile. This was just the fourth time I have run 1 mile in them but I must be getting used to them in a hurry. My first couple of runs I felt like 9:00 pace was about all I wanted to do. Today I wasn't paying attention to pace until near the end and was supprised to see I was at 7:44 pace and I felt like going a few more but decided to keep it at one mile for now. I must heel strike pretty bad because the heals of my running shoes always wear through quite quickly. I hope by gradually building up some mileage in these might help me with that as well as strengthen against injury. They sure make you stride different and feel exactly like barefoot without feeling the small things that stick my tender feet. I swiched to some racing flats and ran the next mile in 6:35 then one more to cooldown. Overall pace for 8 miles was 8:09.

     9 mile morning run at 8:10 pace.

     PM  This run should probably be recorded on tomorrows blog but I started before midnight so I'll count it for Monday. I couldn't find time for a PM run any earlier. I've been busy getting my grain planted and various other things. My wife works in the hospital lab and was on call. She needed some blood taken down to Logan after she drew it around 12:30 AM so rather than sleep for an our thats when I got my 7 mile run in before I had to leave and didn't get to bed till almost 3 am.  8:47 pace.

     Didn't have time for a morning bike ride but did get in a 5 mile PM run. 8:54 pace.

     Morning run 9 miles at 8:14 pace

     PM  run 4 miles after dark at 8:38 pace.  Been busy getting my grain planted and it's been tricky to squeeze in the runs

     24 miles mt bike.

     PM     2.5 miles. Planned to do more but ran out of time. 8:27 pace.

     8 mile run. I ran a 3 mile warmup at 8:17 pace then did 4 miles of fartlek. I did 5x1000 with 400 recovery. I averaged 6:18 pace on the 1000s and 8:02 on the rec. then finished with 1 mile cooldown. Pace for 4.1 fartlec was 6:41. overall pace for 8 was 7:21.

     Was planning a PM run but never got time. It's been a busy week. Hard to find time to squeeze in some running let alone blogging.

     I started out on an early run and it was perfect running weather but 1/2 mile in it looked like rain could be coming and I still had work to do in the fields before it hit so I ran back and ran the tractor until it got too muddy. I got back out later after the rain for 10 miles. 8:13 pace.

     Ran 10 miles this morning with the last 3 at 7:28 pace. Overall pace for 10 was 7:59.

     PM  5 mile run at 8:52 pace. I did this run after dark on a 2 track road on my property with my dogs. They got into a skunk at about 2 miles so I got to enjoy the aroma for the last three miles whenever the dogs ran near me. It wasn't just the smell you get when you drive past one that was hit on the road but a real in your face make your eyes water strong smell. I never even touched any of the dogs but when I came in the house my son complained all evening about the smell coming off me just from being near them.

     25 mile bike ride this morning. It was raining and muddy so I took the my road bike. Not too far into the ride the rain quit and it was nice.

     PM   I seem to be making a habit of late PM runs the last couple of weeks. It seems I've been having a hard time finding the time. Tonight I got home around nine and should have gone right out but found the couch comfortable and felt very unmotivated to do anything other than go to bed.. A little after 10 I finally got out the door for 5 easy miles. It was nice once I got going with a full moon and temps in the 50s. Glad I got out. 8:35 pace.

     I ran 8 miles with the first 5 at around 8:45 pace then did a 2 mile fartlec run of 8x200 at a little under 6:00 pace [some uphill some downhill ave. 44 sec ea.] with 200 recoveries at around 8:00 pace. Overall pace 8:18.

     PM   another late one at 11:00 pm nice easy 3 mile jog with very slight rain at 9:14 pace.

     15 miles on the mt bike.

     4 mile run 8:27 pace.

     I'm definitly not in race shape right now. I haven't run much under 7:00 pace since my ITB injury in January and very little under 6:30 pace but the race was not to far from home and cheep so I figured it would be some good faster miles. On their website it said the 10k started at 7:30 and the 5k and the mile would start soon after. I didn't have much time to warm up so I was just running back and forth behind the crowd waiting for the 10k to start then move up to the start line and get a good spot to start the 5k. I couldn't hear what they were saying on the bull horn about the race while warming up. The 10k started and I realized everybody was going. They had started all three races at once. So I was behind over 500 people running the 5k, 10k, and kids doing the mile on a narrow road. It took me 14 seconds to get to the start line. I started my garmin as I crossed the start line [it was not chip timed] and started trying to get through a mass of people and strollers that were walking in the rear and running slowly farther up. By the time I was getting faster than 8 min pace and could see some daylight the lead vehicle was way ahead. The race was mostly uphill climbing 208 feet net until the turnaround and then back down the same course. After the slow start I finished the first mile in 6:40 after passing tons of people all the way. The second mile I finished in 6:35, a bit slow since it was only half uphill but I think I used a lot on the first mile trying to make up for the bad start. By the end of 2 miles I just had a guy and girl in sight ahead of me that didn't seem to be coming back to me at all. I knew from the turnaround that there weren't any old guys in my age group ahead of me so I was content to just hang out there. They seemed too far ahead and I didn't feel like pushing to hard today but as we got down to the last 1/2 mile they started coming back and I passed the 1st place female [kept from getting chicked]. I finished mile 3 in 5:47 and I continued to gain on the other guy and passed him with about 200 to go. Right after I passed him he had several buddies holering and shouting for him to pass me back but I decided that wasn't happening and kicked it in hard and ran the final .1 at 4:30 pace beating him easily. My final 1.1 was 5:37 pace. Final time on my garmin was 19:25. Clock time was 19:39. This had to be a PR for me for most people passed in a race. I figure I passed around 500 without getting passed by anyone. I finished first in the 40 to 49 age group and won free entry into next years race and 5th overall according to card they gave me at the end. I thought I was 10th at the turn around and I expected to be 6th or 7th.

     Ran 11 miles this morning up around the reservoir. Super nice morning. 8:16 overall pace.

        PM ran 5 miles. First 2 I ran in my five fingers. This was the first time I've gone 2 and I felt like going farther but want to build up gradually. I just went out to run  around 8:45 pace but  felt like running faster in the 5 fingers and averaged around 7:40 then switched back to shoes and ran another 3 at around 8:45 pace.

     I didn't seem to feel any affects from Saturdays race and I'm planning to do another 5k this weekend that is even cheaper and closer than last Saturdays. It's free without a T-shirt [free to women who pre register with t-shirt] and it's right here in Preston.

     30 miles on the mt bike this morning mostly dirt roads and included a 2 mile climb of over 600 feet.

     PM ran 6 easy miles.

9 mile run this morning. The road I like to run on up around the reservoir was graded yesterday and made the running on it slow. They really dug it up and some stretches were covered with 3 to 6 inch rocks [and larger]. I had to run some parts in the grass along side the road which was softer but very lumpy. I was thinking my legs were feeling a bit sluggish this morning but when I got back to the last 1.5 miles of pavement I suddenly felt much better. Overall pace was 8:32.

     PM  ran 5 miles after dark. Expected to run slow after feeling tired on this mornings run but felt fresh. Started with 8:19 1st mile and got faster with each finishing with 7:38 and 7:09 for last two. 8:52 overall pace.

     5 easy miles 8:34 pace.

     This race is put on every year by the hospital in Preston. It was very close to home and free and even has good food at the end. Can't pass that up. There was about 188 people total that showed up but a lot of them were kids doing the bike ride. One of the local guys that can beat me was injured and was there to watch his wife and the other one wasn't there. The High School track stars got home from state in Boise that morning at four AM so none of them showed although the injued guy there to watch his wife run is the teams athletic trainer and he said Colby Wilson [who just broke the Idaho State High School record the day before in the 3200  running 9:20] might be there but he didn't show either. So that set the stage for a possible win for me. They let the bikes go first then the runners. The first 100 yards I had to get past the sprinting kids then I led the rest of the way. I think I passed 80 % of the bicycles along the way. This is a loop course and after 3/4 of the first mile I was running comfortably at 5:57 pace [according to the 1 mile lap pace setting on my Garmin]. Then I hit the biggest hill on the course [ you actually lose about 75 feet crossing a ravine Then you climb back up the other side. I guess I lost some momentum at that point because I finished the first mile in 6:12. The route turned north and I looked back and I had about 100m on the next two runners. The next stretch  was into a bit of a breeze. I always seem to have a poor 2nd mile anyway and slowed to 6:25. When we turned the next corner I looked back and saw that one of the next runners had gained a bit on me. I finished mile 2 in 6:23 and started to pick up the pace. I ran the final mile [.88 on my Garmin] in 5:08 [5:50 pace] to finish first in 17:43 gapping the next two runners by a lot more on that last mile. I'd love to have that time on a full distance 5k . I like my time starting with 17 something but that will have to wait. I've measure this course with my bike computer which is very accurate and have gotten  2.9 for distance. My Garmin said 2.88 this time.

Had a very busy day out in the almost 90 deg sun the entire day until dark. Had an irrigation pipe blow out and other problems that needed fixing. I didn't get a chance to run until after 10 pm. I only went for 5.5 miles and felt like I was running around 8:30 pace in the dark but whenever I checked I was around 9:25. I just really didn't feel like speeding up so I didn't. ended up with 9:38 pace. I think I was just exausted after the long day in the heat [not to mention being short on sleep].

     I had things that needed to be done this morning before I ran so the temps were already getting into the 70s by the time I ran. I didn't have any energy just like last night and the pace was slow. I usally let how I feel dictate my pace and I was running over 9:00 min pace and didn't feel like going faster. after a couple of miles I ran 7:30 pace up a hill for 1/4 to see if that would give me a jumpstart. It did for a while but not long. I finished that mile in 8:12 and ended up over 9:00 min pace on all but 3 of the other miles of the run. I had planned to go 11 if it felt alright but at about 4.5 miles in I was thinking of turning back. I was up by the reservoir and took of my shirt and soaked it in the lake and put it back on wet. This was invigorating enough that I felt like going far enough to finish the planned distance. Of course by the time I did turn back I was feeling lousy again and this turned into the hardest run I have done in recent memory. I was very thirsty, hot, hungry, my feet were hurting from running on all the rocks and gravel on the road from it being graded last week, and I was just plain worn out. I think I was very dehydrated and getting around five hours sleep the last 2 nights probably didn't help either. I had the race 3 days ago also but I usually recover from 5ks very quickly. I had to stop and rest a few times on the way back. I had weighed myself this morning when I got up and I had lost 4 pounds by the time I was done so I must have been very dehydrated. Hopefully with some refueling and rehydration and some better sleep, tomorrow will be better. Overall pace for 11 miles was 8:58

     I may take today completely off [unfortunatly thats just from running or cycling] and see if I can recover a bit. If I do anything it may be an easy short run or bike ride later.

     What a difference a day off[from training] can make. With a little more sleep and better hydration, I felt back to normal this morning. It probably helped to have the temp at 47 to start out too. I ran 10 miles running the first 5 at 8:24 pace and the next 5 at 7:46 pace. I felt good at thwe end and ran the last mile in 6:59. I was sweeting like crazy at the end and was sure the temps must have climbed into the 70s, but it was only 57 deg. Going to have to get used to the heat.    Overall pace for 10 was 8:04.

     PM  2 miles after dark around 9 min pace.

     20 mile mt. bike.

    Had to travel 2 hours to a wedding and diddn't get time for a PM run.

     I got a chance to sleep in a bit and catch up on some sleep this morning. However that ment running in the heat of the day after ball games and some other things. It was 84 degrees when I headed out so I figured I'd just play it by ear on how far or fast to go. I had a breeze that helped and I stopped and soaked my shirt 3 times in the lake and stream. I had also stashed some water. I guess I was being cautious after the horrible run I had on Tuesday. I felt great all the way and just ran how I felt. I started out slower and ran the first 4 miles at 8:16 average. I continued to pick up the pace and ran the next 7 miles at 7:31 pace. Overall pace for 11 was 7:47.

     Morning run 12 miles. Temps were in the 40s to start which felt good but did get up close to 70 by the end. There were still a few muddy spots from yesterdays rain which builds up on the shoes and makes them heavy.  Pace 8:10

     PM   Ran 2 miles in Five Fingers at 7:54 pace then switched to shoes and went 3 more at around 8:45 pace.

     Mt biked 30.33 miles. 17 miles on dirt roads and a 2.5 mile 600 foot climb. I finished in 1:55:19 which is a fast time for me on this route. It usually takes me an hour or more.

     PM    5 easy miles around 9:00 pace.

     Ran 8 miles this morning starting at 8:30 pace progressing to around 7:30 pace. Overall pace was 8:04.

     PM   ran 3 miles at around 9 min. pace. Felt sluggish.

     I'd like to do the Cache Valley Biathlon in June that I have done the past couple of years and it dawned on me that it is 2 weeks from Saturday and I've only been doing 1 or 2 bike rides a week and they have all been easy on recovery days. That just leaves the rest of this week and next week, if I don't want to do much hard riding the week of the race, to get in some intensity. I did do a bit more intense ride than most on Tuesday but I wanted to get in a good one today. I went on my road bike since that's what I'll be racing on and went 25 miles pretty hard. I expecially pushed it on the last 15 and tried to keep it at a tempo effort. I got my best time for that route which has 3 large climbs. Then I rode another 11 at a much easier pace for 36 miles total. I felt very good until the last couple of miles then I suddenly hit a bit of a wall. I guess I was getting close to that 2 hour mark which is about 40 min. longer than most of my rides.

     Ran 10 miles progressing from 8:28 first mile to around 7:40 pace for later miles. I felt a little fatigue from yesterdays hard workout but not as bad as I expected. Overall pace for 10 was 7:57.

     PM   ran 3 miles in Five Fingers.  My feet don't seem to be getting any more used to the gravel in the Five Fingers so today I avoided the gravel sections of the road as much as I could.

     I was planning to run 12 or 13 miles but my hip [that I have had off and on troubles with] was a little sore after running yesterday and a bit this morning so I decided maybe an extra day off [from running] would do more good than running. I went 26 miles on the mt. bike with 10 miles at moderate intensity, 7 miles harder and 8 really hammering.

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.

     The morning temps have been real nice lately [usually 50s] even though it hit 90 yesterday afternoon. This morning I ran 2 miles just under 8:00 pace. Then 2 miles of fartlek [ running 1/4 around 6:00 pace followed by 1/4 a little under 8:00 pace] then 1 mile at 7:56 pace. The faster 1/4s felt harder than they should. I'm planning to run the 15k Freedom Run on the 4th and I've done very few tempo or speed miles so it will be interesting to see how it goes. Overall pace for 5 miles was 7:35.

     Went for 20 miles on the mt bike.

     Went for a 5 1/2 mile run this morning. Kept the pace easy to get ready for tomorrows race. Threw in 6 or 7 x 15 second pickups. Overall pace 8:27.

     I left the house this morning at 5:30 to head down to Hyrum for the race. I wasn't sure what to expect because I've been running mostly slower miles lately nursing a sore hip that I've had on and off problems with for a long time. In the last month and a half I have only run 2 miles faster than 6:30 pace and only 8 miles under 7 min. pace. I was hoping to beat last years time of 59:32. This is the 4th year I've been running and racing and I have set a new  PR in each race I've repeated. I was a little worried about this one because I had gotten in a few more tempo runs last year and was a little better prepared.

     I started out with a 6:17 mile which was about what I wanted. Miles  2 through 5 were 6:21, 6:18, 6:19, 6:11. Somewhere  in mile 6 I caught up to a guy that's been in my age group that I've never been able to beat [finished 2nd to him last year in this race]. I didn't feel like I could pick it up anymore to get by him and just hung back. Finished mile 6 in 6:23. There is a big hill about 1/2 mile long [and steep] that starts the last 1/4 of mile 7 and the first 1/4 of mile 8. I continued to run just back of the other guy up the hill and until about halfway through mile 8 I finally passed him. The pace was getting tougher and I finished mile 9 in 6:23. I was watching my pace on my Garmin and figured I was around 10 seconds faster than last year. The last .3 miles came out to .35 on my Garmin and I ran it at 5:58 pace. Unfortunately last year my Garmin had this stretch at .32 and I ran it at 5:42 pace. So between the Garmin error [or the way I took the tangents which is difficult at times because of the lineups of cars trying to get past the runners] and the much faster kick I made last year, I lost 21 seconds from mile 9 [on my Garmin] to the finish which made this years time for the race 11 seconds slower than last. However there is usually always a good tailwind for a few miles of this race and today there was none. In fact there was a slight headwind some of the way which felt good in the heat but doesn't do much for your time. I was a little bummed about not beating my previous time for the first time. I know at my age it is going to start happening at some point. 

     When I got home I was looking at the results. In comparing to last year's results, I found there were 10 runners that beat me last year and ran again this year. On average their times were 1:36 slower this year [not including] the wheelchair racer who was 7 minutes slower. Only 2 were faster [one by 6 seconds and one by 34 seconds] but nobody else was within 49 seconds of their last years time. So I felt like 11 seconds slower was pretty good. I also finished 6 places ahead of last year overall with 128 more runners in the race. Seeing this made me feel much better. So all in all I'm happy with the results and my hip felt fine. Hopfully I've still got a few years of PRs left in me.

     Went for a 30 mountain bike ride mostly on dirt. During the ride I had 2 deer feeding along the side of the road. They watched me as I passed them at thirty yards. I looked back after I was about 100 yards past and one of them was running after me. I couldn't figure out if it was curious or what. It was gaining on me quickly and I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket and was trying to get it set to video with one hand while I was riding. The deer came right up along side me at 10 to 15 yards away like she was racing me. I should have sped up and tried to hold her off as long as I could but was still trying to get the cell phone camera on. She got just ahead of me then cut across in front of me and off toward a ravine. I've had deer run to cross the road in front of me before but this one came from so far behind it was kind of crazy. 

     I had my foot start hurting Sunday night on the bottom outside edge from my heel to mid foot. It was still a bit sore so I decided to skip the PM run I was planning. Besides that I spent the day digging up a 10" irrigation main line that  blew out. It was about 5 feet down through mucky clay and cattails and no way to get a backhoe near it, so I had to hand dig and repair it which took all day and I was exausted. Maybe that helped my decision to skip the run also.

     Had some more irrigation work to finished up first thing this morning when it was a nice 48 deg. by the time I got things up and going to where I could leave it for a run it was almost noon and 82 deg. Bummer. I ran 7 miles at an easy pace testing my foot which was still a bit sore. It didn't get any more sore during the run. 8:50 pace.

     Took it easy again this morning. Ran 8 miles at 8:33 ave. pace. My foot felt much better today and hopefully will be a non issue by tomorrow.

     PM  Easy 6 miles after dark. Threw in 4 15 to 20 second pickups toward the end. The moon came up big and bright as I was finishing. Ave. pace 8:45.

      I did a 30 mt bike ride this morning mostly off pavement. It was 46 deg to start and I though I might have to wear a sweat shirt but with the sun shining I new I would just have to take it off in a mile or two. I did a lot of climbing in the first half and into the wind. The last big 3 mile climb had a lot of headwind and was quite fast coming back down [36,37 mph]. When I see what it takes for me to go 30 mph [either strong tailwind or downhill or both] it's hard to imagine averaging that speed on the flat. Lance Armstrong's Astana team just averaged over 31 mph on their 24 mile time trial Tuesday. The last 10 miles of my ride I should have been enjoying a nice tailwind but as it commonly does here after the sun starts to warm things up it switched from a north wind to a south wind. For some reason I really ran out of energy with about 5 miles to go and I hadn't been riding all that hard.

      Was planning to do a PM run but it was after 11 before I could have gone and I bagged it.

     I ran 9.5 miles this morning at a very easy pace. I started out the first couple of miles running around 8:20-8:30 pace and just didn't feel good. I slowed to around 8:45 for a mile and still  felt drained. After 3 miles I was thinking about just cutting the run short. I decided to just slow down to a pace my body wanted to run no matter how slow and after another mile that drained feeling was gone. It was a nice cool and calm morning and very pretty up around the reservoir. I was enjoying this easy pace enough that I actually ran farther than I had planned. I also took 3 short breaks. I didn't pay much attention to my Garmin but after getting back I noticed that a lot of my miles were in the 9:30-9:40 range. I may have to start throwing in a few more miles at that pace. I've been trying to figure out why I've been so worn out the last couple of days [I really bonked on yesterdays bike ride too].  We had so much rain in June that I never had to irrigate. Now it has been dry and I've been moving irrigation pipe twice a day since last Thursday. I end up walking an extra 3 or 4 miles a day doing this and lifting and carrying a lot of sprinkler pipe. I also spent most of the day Monday digging up a blown mainline. I've had an extra 5 or so pounds I would like to lose and as of Wed morning I found I had lost 4 lbs just since last week when I last weighed. I thought it may just be dehydration from the heat but I've been careful to drink plenty and still weighed the same yesterday and today. I think maybe I've been too busy to get in some of the in between meal snacks I normally eat. I've also not been getting enough sleep. Then you throw in last Saturdays race and I think it's just been too much all at once for my body to recover and adapt. I'm trying to make sure I get plenty to eat and really listen to my body on my next few runs. Hopefully I'll have my energy back soon.

9:13 pace

     PM 2 miles slow.

     At the beginning of my run this morning I only felt a little better than yesterday morning. Coming up on 4 miles I was deciding whether to turn back. I have a water stash there and stopped for a drink. I was feeling a bit better so decided to go on. I was feeling more back to normal so I went 7 1/2 miles out past the reservoir on a dirt road before turning back. I averaged 8:19 pace for the first 8 miles. I picked it up the next 3 miles and averaged 7:48 pace. Then 7:27 for the next 3 and 6:58 for the last mile. 7:33 average for the last 7 miles. Overall pace for 15 miles was 7:57.

     I felt very good this morning and just did a nice easy 8 miles. I would have liked to have gone 10 but I had to get back to get my son off to his first scout camp and I didn't quite start my run early enough. It was a little warmer morning at around 60 deg. but not too bad.

8:11 pace

     PM   Ran 6 very easy miles after dark. Just ran what felt very comfortable without looking at my pace. The temp at 59 felt very good. It's amazing how much cooler it felt than this morning when the sun was shining at almost the same temp.

9:17 pace

     Took a longer mountaint bike ride this morning. It was 45 deg at the beginning this morning and almost needed a sweatshirt but a very nice morning. I did the loop that takes me across to Treasureton where I hit hwy 34 then over to the Bear River then the 14 miles down the Onieda Narrows to hwy 36 Then back up 34 to Winder Res road then across and back home for a little over 48 miles [about 70% on dirt roads]. Beautiful ride down the narrows. While riding past Maple Grove Campground, the trees were filled with the smells of campers cooking breakfast. It made me very hungry.

     PM   Ran 6 easy miles mostly over 9:00 pace. Did 4 or 5 15-20 second pickups the last 2 miles. 8:50 pace overall.

     I went out and did some up hill and down hill tempo miles this morning in Weston canyon. After a 1 mile warm up I ran 3 miles down the canyon at 6:31 ave pace. After a 4 min break I ran the 3 miles back up at 7:24 ave pace. Another 4 min break and then back down at 6:23 ave pace. I picked up a headwind the  last 3 miles. Then I rode my bike [I had stashed] back up. Overall pace for 9 miles was 6:45.

     Woke up with a sore back this morning. We had our first church softball game last night and the other team didn't show so we took turns at batting practice. It's the first time I have swung a bat all year and since it wasn't a game was swinging for the fence every time. I landed a lot of them right at the fence but couldn't quite get one over. I guess I should have known this wouldn't be the best thing for my back. I took some ibuprofin and went on a 30 mile mt bike ride this morning and it's feeling a lot better now. I guess we'll see how tonight and tomorrow go.

     PM   Went for a 6 mile run just under 9 min pace. It was 91 deg at 6 pm when I left after being 47 deg this morning. That's not unusual here in the summer. 

     Ran 10 miles slow.

     I wanted to get out early for a 17 mile run but I had to spend a couple of hours moving irrigation pipe first thing so I didn't get away until 7:30. It was still 55 deg which was great, but quickly warmed until it was 78 deg by the time I was done. Good thing I have some water stashes along the way. I averaged just under 8:30 pace for the first 3 miles then picked it up a bit and averaged 7:46 pace for the next 9 miles. With 5 miles to go I picked up the pace a bit more and averaged 7:10 for the next 2 mi. The last 3 I ran in 7:02, 7:05, and 6:47. Ave pace for last 10 miles was 7:22. Overall pace for 17mi was 7:40.

     That put me over 90 miles for the week which is a big jump but it was mainly a jump in biking miles. They rescheduled  the Cache Valley Biathlon for Aug 15th so I figured I'd better start upping my cycling mileage now. I'm supprised I felt as good as I did today after the extra cycling this week and I didn't have a lot of energy on yesterdays run so I was pleased with how today went.

     Ran 8 miles this morning. I was still feeling Saturdays run a bit so I just ran as slow as it took for the pace to feel easy. Some early miles were as slow as 9 1/2 min pace. Some later at 8 1/2 pace. Pretty morning with the lake so calm the reflection of the trees and mountains was like a mirror. It would have made a nice picture. Ave pace 8:55.

     PM 2 miles after dark.

     I had a busy morning and wasn't able to get out until after noon with temps approaching 90.  I went for 32 miles on the mountain bike about half on pavement and half on dirt. I took an extra water bottle and pushed the pace pretty good. The heat doesn't get you as bad on a bike because you're creating your own wind. I had one three mile climb though where there was just enough wind at my back to make no breeze at all. I had so much sweat dripping from my helmet and forehead that in seemed like it was raining on my quads as I pedaled. felt good to go back down into the breeze. 

     PM    Ran 6 miles late. Finished at 11:30. Ran fairly easy pace first 3 miles then did 4 x 35-45 second pickups then 1/4 mile at 5:40 pace on the way back. Overall pace was 8:05. Very dark night with no moon.

     Ran an easy 5.5 miles with a few striders thrown in. 8:19 ave. pace.  I was planning a short easy run yesterday also but never made it out. I decided rather than do another late run, I'd go for the extra sleep. I'm running the Des News 10k tomorrow so it was a good day to take off from running.

     I went down to salt lake Thursday afternoon and the temperature was over 100 deg. I spent the night at my parents house in Sandy and when I got up at 4 AM the temp was 78 deg. I'm used to Our Cache valley mornings in the 50s. After I got to the race I  warmed up for 1.6 miles. I got lined up about 5 min before the race was supposed to start and I was just dripping sweat already in the middle of the big crowd of bodies. The race started about 10 min late and it felt so good to finally get going and get some air moving as some space was finally created between runners. The first 2 miles have the most downhill and I hit those in 5:52 and 5:53. My 3rd mile was 6:20. There was some uphill on this mile but also enough downhill that it shouldn't have been this slow. Mile 4 was 6:15. Mile 5 was 6:11. During mile 6 the race turns east and goes uphill the last 5 blocks. On this part I was feeling pretty good and passed several other people. This mile was 6:24 and my last .2 [.22 according to my Garmin] I ran at 5:57 pace. This was my first 10k so it was a pr. I'm pretty happy with how it went but I think I could have kept miles 3,4,and 5 all under 6:10 which would have kept me under 38 min. I ran into some other Cache Valley bloggers after the race Jon, Cody, and Scott. I talked to Mark  and met Adam. It was a fun race and I'd like to try it again [especially if it were 10 deg cooler]. After watching some of the first marathoners come in I ran 3.2 back up to the start to get my car. I was surprised how fresh I felt running back to the car and figured I must not have run the race quite as hard as I could have.

     I didn't get to bed last night until after 1am and after being up since 4 am I was extra tire and slept in until 7:30 this morning. Then I had to move pipe so I didn't get out on my run until after 10 o'clock and the temp was already to 78 and climbing. Same temp as yesterday but it feels a lot warmer when the sun is up high. I felt surprisingly good this morning. Felt no sign that I had even raced the day before. I was getting pretty thirsty in the heat and was looking forward to the water stash I have 4 miles out. I got there and my water was completely empty. I guess I had forgotten to get back up to refill it. Oh well I have another one 6 miles out and was really looking forward to that one. I got there and it was empty also. I must be losing my memory. I usually remember when these need to be refilled. Now I'm really thirsty and the temp is probably around 86 or 87 and I've got 6 miles to go to get home. I felt real good and felt like running faster but wanted to keep it somewhat of a recovery run. I didn't feel quite so good though the last couple miles [probably from becoming dehydrated]. Overall pace for 12 miles was 8:12.

     PM   Rode 10 miles on my road bike. Pushed the pace pretty good.

     Ran 11 easy miles in the morning then headed to Salt Lake in the afternoon to my parents 50th wedding anniversary. We stayed for the night to catch our plane in the morning.

     We caught a plane for Pennsylvania this morning out of SLC. Never got a chance to run.

     We arrived at the Farmhouse in northern Pennsylvania last night. The 150 acre farm has not been farmed for the last 50 or more years and has turned back into forest as have most farms in the area. It is about 2000 ft elevation. It has been in my wife's family for about 200 years and it now belongs to her parents who live about an hour away but spend a lot of their summer there. I love running there through the tunnels of trees and past a number of ponds and small lakes. There is a lot of wildlife from bullfrogs and newts to deer and bears. I saw a bobcat and a bear on the same bike ride last year. This is also where last year on my first run here I fell and tore my hamstring. I figured I'd rather avoid that this year. I have a favorite loop I like to run that is around 2 1/2 miles. About 3/4 of a mile is paved and the rest dirt. Nothing is flat with a couple of the larger hills being about 1/4 mile long and one climbs over 100 feet. On this first run there I just did 3 loops for 7.12 miles at 8:16 ave pace. This time I finished safely.

     Later I took a short 3 mile bike ride.

     Ran 4 laps at the farmhouse and added another 1/2 mile to make it 10 miles. 8:07 ave pace.

     15 miles on the bike.

     We spent the day in New York City seeing some sights. We had some heavy rain hit us midway through the day. We had wanted to spend some time at Central Park so when the rain got lighter we headed to the park. I decided to run around the park. I took off in what I was wearing which was cargo type shorts with pockets full of everything from a wallet and change to a cell phone. I was wearing some older running shoes and I did have my garmin. My shoes and socks were already completely soaked. The rain was lightly falling at times which kept it nice and cool. I went once around the main road where the Olympic trials were held. That would be a pretty tough marathon course with all the little hills and it amazes me how good of times some of the guys ran at the trials. After once around the big loop I ran a smaller loop. It's a great place to run and a lot of fun. My overall ave pace for 8 miles was 7:31. 

Didn't get a chance to run.

     Got in a 15 mile run today at the Pennsylvania farm. I ran the same hilly loop. I started at an 8:30 pace and increased to about 8 min pace over the first seven. I averaged 7:49 pace for the next 8 miles. 8:04 pace overall for 15 miles.

     Went for a 3 mile bike ride at the farm before leaving for Milford Pa where my wife's parents live. Later I got in a 6 mile run through the town of Milford.

     We went to the beach in New Jersey. Later we headed down to Philadelphia where we spent the night. We wanted to go to the Phillies game that night but the tickets sold out several days in advance. My step daughter and her husband paid 50 bucks for some scalped tickets [$40 seats] and went anyway. Never got time for a run but I felt beat anyway from spending a lot of time in the ocean. 

     I ran  6 miles on the treadmill at the hotel in Philadelphia in the morning. Started out with a 9:10 mile and sped up each mile. Last 2 miles were 7:12 and 6:33. Overall ave pace was 7:52. We spent the rest of the day visiting some tourist attractions including doing the "Rocky Balboa run" up the steps of the museum then caught our plane for home that evening.

     Back home this morning I ran 10 miles at 8:14 ave.

     PM   4 miles at 8:56 pace.

     I rode 30 miles on my road bike this morning. I'm planning to do a biathlon a week from tomorrow and figure I had better try to get in a couple of good rides since I haven't been on the bike much the past 3 weeks.

      I ran 20 miles this morning for the first time since last October. First thing this morning it was 45 deg and raining hard. I waited a couple of hours and the rain got very light and the temp up to 52 deg. Perfect for a long run. I wasn't able to run the dirt roads that I usually take because of mud so I ran down the highway. There are two big mile long hills that climb about 300 feet that I had to run both on the way out and back. I ran the first 8 miles at 7:58 ave pace. Then the next 12 at 7:42 ave pace. Overall ave pace for 20 was 7:48.

     I was surprised that I didn't feel any lingering effects from Sat tough run when I went out this morning. Even though I felt like going faster and farther I wanted this to be a recovery effort and  I forced myself to keep the pace slow . I ran 8 miles at 8:38 ave pace.

     PM   Ran a very easy 4 miles at  10 PM. It was very dark until the moon came up on the last mile. 8:51 pace

     Went out on the road bike this morning for 26 miles. Hammered pretty good for about 12 miles of it.

     PM   Went for an easy relaxed 7 mile run. Got out a little earlier while it was still light but the temp was still 84 deg. A nice breeze kept it from getting too bad. 8:45 pace.

     AM   Ran 10 miles. The first 4 miles at 8:16 ave pace. Then 6 miles at 7:39 ave pace. On the last 4 miles I ran the first 1/4 of each mile at around 6:05 pace since I haven't run hardly anything under about 7:30 pace since the Des News 10k almost 3 weeks ago and I have a 5 mile race as part of a biathlon this weekend and just wanted to get the legs moving. It felt hard. Overall pace for 10 miles 7:54.

     7 very easy miles this morning. 9:03 pace.

     PM   15 mile mountain bike.

     Morning 6 slow miles. 8:28 pace.

     PM 6 miles on the road bike in a 30 MPH wind.

     When I got up this morning to leave for the race it had been raining during the night but had stopped and was perfectly calm and around 50 deg. Perfect race conditions. As I made the 45 min. drive to the other end of the valley I got into a lot of heavy wind. Not so good especially on the bike. When I arrived there were also a few raindrops starting to fall.  About 20 min. before the race was supposed to start it started raining hard. I didn't see one person out warming up and I didn't either. I just couldn't get excited about going out in that downpour. The race director was trying to give us some last minute instructions with everyone huddled under the pavilion but everything he said was completely drowned out by the roar of rain hitting the roof. When it was time to start it wasn't fun to take off my sweatshirt and head out into the cold and rain in shorts and short sleeves. We took off in the rain and I was completely soaked and cold right off the bat. There seemed to be a lot of standing water right off that soaked my shoes and socks. My hands were freezing and I realized I hadn't put any gloves out in my transition stuff for the bike ride. That first mile I really didn't feel like running at all but after about 1.5 I started to warm up and felt better. I tried to keep the effort hard but not too hard so I would have something left for the bike which is actually where the most time is gained or lost. The race is a loop course that you run twice so the direction you are running changed several times so headwind verses tailwind or crosswind changed several times which kept my splits a bit uneven. Splits for the first 4 miles went 6:22,6:18,6:24,6:28. The last mile I had mostly tailwind. I usually don't kick at the end of the run in a biathlon and when I turned the corner into the parking lot I could see the clock was still at 30 something so I took off a bit faster to break 31 min. I got to the clock at 30:57 or 58 but the timing mat and barriers had been changed around since the start and I had run around the wrong side and had to go back around to cross the mat. It got me at 31:02 but I'm saying I was under 31min. The last mile was short. I had it at .92 miles on my garmin at 5:30 [5:58 pace]. Overall pace for 5 miles was 6:17. I was about 58 seconds in transition if I add in the 4 seconds I lost getting across the mat. I had to decide in transition whether to put on the jacket I had left there but was feeling warm now even though it was still raining. I didn't want the extra wind drag so I went without it. The bike part started out with a tailwind and not too far into it the rain stopped. The bike part goes 16.5 miles on an out and back course. With about 2 miles to go before the turn around the tailwind got harder and I was really flying. Unfortunetly I soon had to turn back into a much stronger headwind.The whole way back I felt like I was just crawling. I normally get passed a lot on the bike but until the last mile and a half I had passed 3 people and had not been passed myself. At that point I had a guy about half my age with twice my bike go by me. After he got about 5 or 6 bike lengths on me [you are not allowed to draft] I could see he had used a lot getting past me and I was able to keep him from getting away any farther. When we got closer to the finish I started coming up on the side of him. He kept looking back and trying to hold me off but I continued to gain on him. I was right even with his back wheel as we were closing in on the finish and still slowly gaining. The race officials do not want you racing this last bit across the line as it is an open course and finishes in a bit of a crowded area. they want you to take care of it out on the course and then cruise in the last bit. I decided I had waited a little too long and backed off and cruised in but I think I could have gotten him and he said afterward that he thought I had him.

     I beat last years run time by almost a half a minute but my overall time was 1:30 slower. I really wanted to break 1:20:00 and figured when I finished the run faster than last year I had it but that wind really kicked my butt. It must have slowed everyone else a lot too. I finished 7th overall. Up from 17th last year. I was only 3rd in my age group which includes 40 to 49. I have two of the better racers in my group with Keith Anderson and Mark wallace. Even though my time was slower than last years I'm sure I had a better race. After it was over I headed to Southern Utah for 5 days of bowhunting.

      Bow hunting in southern Utah this morning I did about 2 1/2 hours of hiking. I went for a 12 mile run in the heat of the day starting from camp at 8550 feet elevation and running 6 miles down the dirt road to around 7500 feet then back up. 7:33 easy pace going down and 8:37 pace for the 6 miles back up which was a harder effort. 8:07 overall ave pace for 12.

     More hiking that evening.

      Another 2 1/2 to 3 hours of hiking this morning covering a lot of ground. I went for the same run in the afternoon but turned around at 4 miles this time for 8 miles total. The first 4 miles dropped about 700 feet and I ran a 7:31 pace. The next 4 back up I ran at 8:43 pace.

      Not much hiking this evening mostly sitting.

     I went out this morning and did my West Canyon run. My wife dropped me off up the canyon and then parked the car at the bottom while she walked up. I ran a 1 mile hilly warm up in 8:02 and then started a 3 mile tempo down the canyon averaging 6:19 pace. After a 5 min. break I ran back up the 3 miles at a similar effort at 7:24 pace. After another 5 minute break I headed back down. It had been perfectly calm all morning but now I had a strong headwind which slowed me quite a bit. After about a mile I really started to bonk and it was tough to maintain a decent pace at all. I finished that 3 miles at 6:43 pace. I'm not quite sure why I ran out of steam. I did feel good on the first 2 intervals. This might be a bad sign for the half next week. Hopefully it just had something to do with all the extra hiking I did this week or the biathlon 5 days earlier.

     6 recovery miles at 8:38 pace.

     I ran a 20 miler this morning. The legs felt a bit heavy in the beginning and I wasn't sure how it would go so I just tried to run a pace that felt good. Started out around 8:30 pace and after 7 miles my overall pace was 8:17. I actually started feeling a bit better at this point and my pace picked up without thinking about it. I averaged 7:42 pace for the last 13 miles. Overall pace for 20 was 7:54.

     Ran 9 miles this morning at a relaxed 8:33 pace.

     My back was a little sore yesterday during my run. Then it became more sore throughout the day. The day before I stepped in a hole unexpectedly and twisted awkwardly trying to catch my balance. My back hurt when it happened but felt better soon afterward but it seems like I have had my back flare up before after this type of thing. I skipped my PM run yesterday and doubt I will run today. I did go for a 20 mile mt bike ride this morning. My back felt about the same afterward. I hope it gets feeling better quickly with TOU half coming in 4 days.

     This morning my back felt better than yesterday morning but when I tried running a little ways it was giving me enough pain I decided the benefits of a short run didn't outweigh the risk of making it worse or even delaying the healing with the TOU half coming up in 3 days. I got on the mountain bike again and felt like I had a lot of energy. I went 31 miles pushing the pace somewhat hard for a lot of the ride. The riding caused a little less soreness than yesterday but both days it felt no worse after finishing. It's very unlikely that I'll do any running again today

     My back felt a lot better this morning so I decided to try a short run. The pain wasn't bad but just enough that I didn't want to risk making it worse so I only ran 2.3 miles and I will see how it does throughout the day. I may try another short run later if all goes well.

     My back felt much better this morning so I decided to test it before the race tomorrow. I ran 6 miles fairly easy and took a short break after 2 and 4 miles. The last 2 miles I did some fartlek running 4x1/4 miles at 6:20-6:25 pace. My back felt pretty good. I felt it slightly more during the faster running but not too bad. Hopefully it will behave for the rest of the day and for tomorrows race.

     I got up at 4:15 this morning so that my wife and son and I could get away by a little before 5 am to make the 50 minute drive down to Providence. There was a very long line of cars backed up and not moving clear out to the highway and down the highway to catch the buses at the finish so we drove on up to the start line and my wife dropped me off there. I warmed up for a mile then waited for the race to start. It was about 20 min late starting probably because it nearly doubled in size [since last year] to over 2000 runners. 

     The race started and I ran the first mile in 6:16 which is about where I wanted to be on these first few canyon miles. I felt like I didn't have a lot of energy and the pace felt too hard this morning. I slowed to 6:26 for the second mile and 6:25 for the 3rd. My back went out on me last Monday morning and I wasn't able to run all week until Friday when I did a 6 mile run. This may have had me a little stale. Mile 4 was about the same in 6:26 but then miles 5,6,and 7 were better at 6:18, 6:14, and 6:14.  Just out of the canyon during the 7th mile my wife and son [who I didn't expect to see until the finished ] surprised me by being there and cheering me on with posters they had made that morning after dropping me off. That was a nice boost.   Now out of the canyon miles 8,9,and 10 were 6:34, 6:33, and 6:40. The first half of mile 11 is pretty flat but then all uphill on the second half. This was 6:49. The 12th mile climbs the whole way and I hit it in 6:56. I would have been happy with 1:26 time for the race but really had a goal of 1:25. With my slow start I had kind of given up on 1:25 but at this point I realized I might be close it I could run a good last mile. I ran mile 13 in 6:19 then the final .16 [according to my garmin] at 5:28 pace. The clock at the finish said 1:24:48. Great ! But then I checked my garmin and it said 1:25:06 which is what my official time ended up which put my average pace at 6:29.  My Garmin read long [13.16]. Probably because we were told to stay on the right side of the road and that windy canyon road gets measured by the tangents. This is my first time for this race. My only other two 1/2 marathons were both Painters half so this is a PR of nearly 4 min but definitely a faster course. I was pleased though that as lousey as I felt the first few miles, I didn't really feel that worn out in the end. Hopefully that will be a good sign for St George. Another plus was my back didn't bother me much during the run and was only mildly sore afterward. We'll have to see how it feels by Monday. All in all I'm happy with the result and was 3rd in my age group behind speedy Scott Ensign and Bill Cobler. Just wish I had shaved 6 seconds somewhere to get that sub 1:25. I guess that just gives me something to shoot for next time.

     Ran 9 miles this morning and took it fairly easy. I didn't feel too bad from Saturdays race just a little quad soreness. My back had almost zero pain which made me happy. It was a little sore Sat. evening and Sunday but felt fine today. Overall pace 8:28.

    PM   1 easy mile