faster with age

     I was planning on a 15 miler today. We had to go down to Salt Lake and I was hoping to find the time to run down there. I never got it done down there and when we got home it was 11:30 pm and -14 deg [it got down to -20 last night]. I was tired and didn't quite have the motivation to do it then. So decided I'd do it tomorrow since this was the second day this week I wasn't able to get out.

     I missed 2 days of running last week including a planned 15 miler yesterday so I decided to get in a run today. I didn't get out until after dark and the temp was 13 deg which was about as warm as it has been day or night the past few days. I was running on snow so I just started out slow and easy. I went 13 miles total. My first few miles I was running around 8:50 pace but as I ran it felt like the same effort but my last miles were around 7:50 pace [which is faster than I usually run on snow]. Overall pace was 8:21.

     8 miles on snow and ice. 8:36 AP.

     10 more miles plugging away on the snow and ice. The temp was at -5 deg. When the roads are icy one of my neighbors [an elderly woman] can't cross the road to get her newspaper and mail. If I notice her paper is still in the box I stop and take it over to her. This morning she got a big kick out of all the ice on my beard and eyelashes and had me come in to look in the mirror.  8:33 AP

     I wanted to do a tempo run today but it's a little hard to find a road that isn't covered in snow. I figured I could go out and run on the highway but I don't enjoy it much with traffic zooming by at 70 mph. I had noticed a gravel road nearby that had strips of dry dirt exposed down most of it from the plow. I guess it doesn't get packed down so much before the plow hits it because it doesn't get much traffic. I ran back and forth on a 2 mile stretch and was able to run on dry gravel for most it. I had to keep switching from side to side to keep hitting the best dry strips. I was probably only running on snow about 15 % of the time. I ran a 2 mile warmup at around 7:30 pace. Then did 8 miles at 6:44 ave pace with a 4 min break at the halfway point. It was a bit tougher than I expected especially the last few miles. It may have had to do with the fact that it was about 15 deg [which actually feels pretty good lately] and running on the gravel is usually a bit slower. Overall pace for 10 miles was 6:53.

     I was able to run up the reservoir road today for the first time since it snowed. Somebody finally drove through the snow in a truck and left some tire tracks to run in. The snow is only about a foot deep right now and there isn't any drifting so they were able to make it through. I love running up there in the winter. The sun was shining and it is so quiet and peaceful. Temps were in single digits but I guess that's better than the negatives. 8 recovery miles at 8:56 AP.

     Took another run up around the reservoir today. The footing in the tire tracks isn't terrible but it stills seems to slow me down by 30 seconds or more per mile. The uphills are quite a bit slower than that and I get down to around 10 min pace. 9 miles @ 8:57 AP

     Went 15 miles and stuck to the plowed roads this time. There is getting to be more strips on the road that are dry. I kept criss crossing the road to catch as many of the dry strips as I could but still ended up with quite a bit of running on snow and ice. Started the run running around 8:40 pace and continued to drop the pace until the last miles were around 7:40 pace. 8:07 overall ave. 

     Easy 8 mi at 8:48 AP

     Went 11 miles today with 2 miles of warm up then 9 miles tempo. Went up to the gravel road that I used last week where I could find more dry patches to run on. I still had to keep criss crossing the road to avoid as much of the snow and ice as possible. some small stretches I just had to run on the snow. I started out at 7:39, 7:18, and 6:52. I took a short break at the jeep and took of my sweatshirt. next 4 miles at 6:41 AP. 5 min break and then another 4 miles at 6:41 AP. I averaged 6:42 for the 9 miles of tempo and 6:51 for all 11. Just like last week this felt harder than I expected. I was planning to run the last 4 a little faster but just couldn't do it. The fact that it was 9 deg probably didn't help.

     8 mile slow recovery run. 8:55 AP

     This morning was like a heat wave at 18 deg. I ran 10 miles. Averaged 8:09 for the first 4 miles and 7:46 pace for the next 6. The roads are getting more and more dry spots but still running on some snow [about 10 %]. 7:55 overall pace.

     6 miles. 8:52 AP

     I think today was the warmest it has been all winter at 37 deg. I ran 12 miles starting with an 8:40 first mile and averaging 8:22 for the first 6 miles. Then for the 6 miles coming back I threw in some fartlek running 5x1/4 miles and 2x1/2 miles at anywhere from 6:05 to 6:25 pace with recoveries from 1/4 to 1/2 mile between. Average pace for the last 6 was 7:21. Overall ave pace for 12 miles was 7:52.

     This morning we had an extremely strong west wind blowing when I ran so I made 90% of my run north and south to avoid as much headwind as possible. My upwind leg was constantly clipping my other leg as I would bring it forward almost tripping me a time or two. There are a big line of huge cottonwood trees along part of the road that I run down and they frequently lose a few large branches [including some this morning] in this kind of wind. It was a little spooky going through there. Just have to stay on the far side of the road and watch closely. I was taking it pretty easy and then with the wind thrown in, I barley averaged under 9 min pace.

     4 miles this morning with around 6 strides thrown in.

     Ran 5 miles this morning. Warm up for 1.75 miles at 8:23 AP. Then Fartlek for the rest of the run. 2x1/4 then 2x1/2 then 2x1/4 anywhere from 5:50 to 6:12 pace with 1/4 recoveries at around 7:45 pace. Ave pace for 3.25 fartlek portion was 6:44. Overall ave for 5 miles 7:18. I'm keeping all my runs short this week in hopes of getting freshened up some for Painters 1/2 in St George this weekend. The past 2 harder weeks had left me feeling a bit sluggish. I felt quite a bit better today.

     1 hour of basketball

     My wife and I made the trip back down to St George last night and got a good night sleep at the hotel. When we arrived at the race that morning the temp in the car read 32 deg. A little chilly in shorts and short sleeves but it warmed up nicely a few miles into the race. I came to the race this year with higher goals than I did last year. I felt like I was in better shape than last year after running quite a few more miles the last 2 months than what I did last year. My main goal was just to beat last years time of 1:25:24 which was over 3 minutes faster than the year before. I was hoping I could take as much as a minute off of that. 

     The race starts out with a gradual climb for the first 2 miles. A little more in the second than the first. I hit those in 6:22 and 6:31. The 3rd mile was 6:18 mostly down hill with a climb at the end. 4th and 5th continued through rolling hills 6:21 and 6:28. During the 6th mile I was still running a good pace but I wasn't feeling so good and started to fear I had gone out too fast. At this point my average pace was about 6:24 which was on pace for under 1:24 and I was finished with the toughest part of the course but my pace really started to drop off after that. I was at 6:28 pace for mile 6 just coming into the aid station at the end of the mile. I stopped quickly to chug a gatorade then ran up the steep hill to the mile marker and finished that mile in 6:37. The next mile should have been a fast one but I ended up at 6:37 again. Most of the rest of my miles were in the 6:40s. I did manage a 6:28 on mile 10 which was a slight downhill mile and I managed a 6:20 on the 13th mile after really picking it up for the last 1/4 of it. I looked at my watch a bit before the last corner and could see I was going to be very close to last years time. I had already picked the pace up for the last little bit but now I really put it into gear. I came around the last corner hard and kept it up all the way to the finish. Not sure how long the last stretch was but I know the 13 mile marker was a little less that 1/2 way down it so probably a bit less than .2 miles. Finishing time was 1:25:28 so 4 seconds short of last years time. It was a different course this year. I'm not sure if it was faster or slower. It had shorter hills but more of them. I'm quite sure if I would have paced myself better I could have run a much better time. I was thrilled with the time last year so I guess I should still feel pretty good about it.

     I won my age division the last 2 years [45 to 49] and would have won that division again by 20 seconds but I was beat by another guy in the 50+ division and had to settle for second. If nothing else it was a good start to my training for Boston in 3 months.

     Splits:   6:22, 6:31, 6:18, 6:21, 6:28, 6:37, 6:37, 6:43, 6:42, 6:28, 6:40, 6:50, 6:20, 5:00 min pace last .1

     Still in southern Utah after the race yesterday. The weather was gorgeous and we went on some hikes. Legs felt good other than some quad soreness on the steep downhill but not too bad.

     My right hamstring [the one that always gives me the problems] was a bit sore today. It felt fine after the race and yesterday.  I decided to skip the run today.

     My hamstring felt fine this morning so I headed out for a run. I didn't even make it 1/2 mile and it started to tighten up. I decided it wasn't worth the risk of making it worse and walked home.

     Hammy felt fine again today but decided to give it another day. I went for 15 miles on the mt bike instead. It felt good to get out on the bike for the first time this winter.

     I played basketball last night and took a knee to my quad. I had a big knot right above my knee which was even bigger this morning. I went out to attempt a run again but only went 1 mile. The quad was quite sore but I quit because my hamstring was getting sore. It wasn't the same pain I had earlier in the week. This was more up in the glute area. I felt it burning there last night after racing after a loose ball. I always figure I'll take it easy but it's easier said than done. I came back after the mile and went 15 miles on my mt bike.

     I decided to rest the hammy another day and went another 15 miles on the mt bike. There is a dog nearby that has been getting a little more aggressive toward me on my runs lately. He came out after me yesterday on my bike for the first time. Today when he came out he was even looking more serious so I unclipped my pedal cleat just in case. He was really eyeballing my foot so I gave it to him right in the chops with a quick sharp kick. He quit chasing me immediately and when I came past on my way back he was right by the side of the road but made no attempt to come after me. My quad is still pretty swollen and sore from the knee I took in basketball the other night but I think I could run with it if I needed to.

     Decided to try another run today. The hammy/glute was a slightly sore throughout the run but didn't get worse. Just went 3 miles. Hopefully I can start to get some miles in next week.

     I ran 8 miles this morning. The road that goes up past the reservoir looked mostly free of snow so I went that direction. Once I got over the first hill though it was a lot more snow covered and quite slick in places. My glute was still slightly sore. I just felt a bit of a burn after the first 1/2 mile and it didn't feel any worse at the end so hopefully no harm done. It was 26 deg which is warm for this time of year but it didn't feel very warm with the stiff north wind that was blowing.Kept the pace slow at 8:51 AP. Hopefully I can get the mileage back up a bit this week.

Ran another easy 8 miles this morning. My butt felt about the same which I guess is good as long as it doesn't feel worse. The temp was 0 this morning and very windy. I didn't get out until a little later when it was clear up to 3 deg but still very windy. I dressed like I do for 15 below zero running. I was going into the wind going out and only ran about 9:30 pace. About a minute faster pace coming back with the wind. 8:58 AP

It was -6 deg this morning but it felt much nicer than yesterday mornings run. There was some wind but nothing like yesterday. My son's science teacher has a weather station and is the official weather stat keeper for Preston. Yesterday he told the class that it was -34 degrees with the wind chill. It always seems to be 4 to 6 deg colder where we live [a ways out of town] according to our car thermometer when we drive to and from town. I don't think I have run when it felt any colder than it did yesterday morning. I went 8 miles again this morning up by the reservoir. Still running some on snow and ice up there. My butt cheek pain seems to be a little better each day. Keeping the pace nice and slow until the pain is completely gone. 8:34 AP

     About 1 1/2 miles into yesterdays run I got a sharp twinge in my left knee that hit all with one step. I kept running about 50 yards and it didn't go away. I stopped and did a couple of deep knee squats and it felt better. I continued running and it pretty much went away. After my run it got a little sore and I took some ibuprofen. By evening time last night it felt better and I went and played basketball. Afterward it was sore again and even more sore this morning. It seems to be a problem that I had, and was diagnosed as Plica Syndrome by an orthopedic specialist, just before the St George Marathon 2 years ago. I decided to take today completely off. Hopefully I can nip this in the bud since last time it took a couple of months to clear it up. Of course that was after I ran the marathon with it.

     My knee felt good last night and this morning so I decided to give it another shot. The temp was at 30 deg and sunny. I went with the shorts this morning and it was a nice run. A drastic change from -34 deg [wind chill] four days ago. I ran up to the reservoir and it was just cold enough to keep the mud frozen. Still running on a little snow and ice also. I ran 8 miles averaging about 8:10 pace the first half and around 7:40 pace the second half. My knee didn't give me any problems and the burn in my butt/upper hamstring was less noticeable than earlier in the week. ave pace for 8 miles was 7:54

     I headed out just after noon today with the temp in the upper 30s. I went in shorts for the second day in a row although there was no sun and it was a bit windy. About a mile in it got much more windy and started to snow. I was wondering if I was going to regret not dressing warmer but it wasn't too bad. I went 15 miles averaging 8:19 for the first half and 7:33 coming back. 7:56 AP overall for 15 miles.

     Ran 8 miles today. I decided to where my new New Balance MT 101s that I got while down in St George for the race 2 weeks ago. I had only run in them once for about 3 miles before today because I was a little worried about trying them while trying to recover from some little niggles the last 2 weeks. They are a very minimalist trail running shoe. I really liked them but figure I'll start out not running in them more than once a week till my body gets more accustomed to the lower heel.

     I went 9 miles today and decided to run up to the reservoir. It was colder this morning so any mud would be frozen. There was a fresh layer of powdery snow about 1/2 inch deep from last night and it wasn't too slick where there was frozen ground underneath but it was very slick anywhere that there was ice underneath. When I got too my turnaround point up by the lake I had the thought too go down and run back on the ice on top of the lake. I went down and tried it and it was actually easier running than the snow and ice covered road had been. We just saw the movie 127 Hours about Aron Ralston Last week, where he gets his hand trapped by a boulder and has to amputate his own arm to survive then has to climb and hike another 8 miles down the canyon [A canyon that we were actually down hiking in last spring] to save himself. I have been reading his book [Between a Rock and a Hard Place] the last couple of days and I'm about half way through it.My mind today on my run had been dwelling on his numerous outdoor life and death outdoor survival stories from his book. It got me thinking a lot about 3 or 4 possible life and death situations that I have had in the mountains over the years and how I would write about them and thinking about a lot of the details that I still remember. So of course as I was running across the ice on the lake with my imagination all fired up I started thinking about breaking through the ice and how most days there probably wouldn't be anybody coming through there all day. And then if I could get myself out of the water how tough it would be to make it the 3 miles down to the nearest house while being completely soaked with temps in the low 20s. It was kind of fun envisioning all of this but it actually started making me a bit nervous even though I knew the ice was plenty thick. So I at least started running closer to the bank where I figured if I did break through I could at least touch the bottom.I knew it was silly but it made me feel better. I was taking it pretty easy today and my miles with good footing I was averaging around 8:30 pace but I know I was around 9:30 pace on some of the snowier miles. Overall ave pace was 8:55.

     It's a good book and movie. I'd recommend both.

     9 easy miles this morning. Hammy/butt seems to be doing pretty good as long as I keep everything pretty slow. 8:28 AP

     8 miles slow. Legs felt heavy today maybe from night skiing last night. 8:54 AP

     6 miles at 8:22 AP

     Nice weather for a run today. 42 deg and sun. I went 17 miles. First half at 7:59 ave pace. Second half 7:25 ave pace. Last mile was 7:08 counted that as marathon pace.

     AM  Ran 8 miles in my MT 100s. Really nice weather. Picked up the pace on the last 1/2 mile to just beat the 8 minute guy. 7:59 AP.

     PM  4 miles easy in the dark without a watch. It was still unseasonably warm.

     8 miles on another nice day. Sounds like winter is on it's way back in for a while. 8:39 AP

     Wanted to pick up the pace today on some of my miles. Started with a 3 mile warmup progressing from 8:04 pace to 7:15 pace. Then tried to keep at least MP effort for the next 6 miles. I had to pay more attention to effort than pace because the wind was blowing about 20 MPH. Of the 6 miles 3 miles were direct headwind, 1 1/2 crosswind, 1 1/2 tailwind. I ran harder the last 2 miles directly into the wind at 6:55 pace [felt like 6:20-6:30 effort]. Averaged 7:01 pace for last 6 miles. 7:13 overall pace for 9 miles.

     4 miles easy on snow again.

     We left for San Diego yesterday and spent last night in Mesquite. I went out for an early run on the North side of town. It's a very nice area to run and surprisingly hilly. I've been having a little hip soreness the past 2 days so I only went 6 miles.

     I ran 8 miles at the beach in San Diego this morning. Some on the beach and some on the boardwalk. Right as I started my run it started to rain and I had a huge headwind. At least it wasn't very cold. After about 3 1/2 miles into the wind, the rain stopped and the wind died down some. This is where I was turning around to head back so I didn't get near the tailwind on the return as the wind I had been fighting. 7:57 AP.

     8 miles today. It was snowing with a steady wind the whole time. I felt low on energy during this run which I didn't expect after not running the last 2 days. I must have been worn out from our short vacation and lack of sleep the past 2 nights. 8:42 AP.

     I had better energy today. I went 10 miles total with the first 2 miles mostly on snow at around 8:22 pace. The next 6 miles I averaged around 7:35 pace. The 9th mile I ran in 6:29 and slowed back to 7:25 pace for the next 1/2 then 6:19 pace for the last 1/2 mile. Overall pace for 10 was 7:34.

     During my run on Wednesday I got a sudden pain in my ankle. It was mostly gone after 1/2 minute and I finished the run. It was a bit sore the rest of the day and pretty sore on Thursday so I skipped the run. It was a little sore this morning but seemed a little less noticeable the more I was on it so I decided to try running. Once I started the pain seemed to mostly disappear. I was running on snow and there was a lot of snow falling. I kept the pace real easy. 9:27 AP.

     I was planning on doing a 20 miler today but we have gotten a ton of new snow and none of the roads were cleared yet. I've also been having a few little aches and pains this week. I decided a long run with poor footing wouldn't be a good idea today so I scrapped it and just went 8 miles and decided to do the long run on Monday.  Poor footing made the run slow. 9:08 AP

     My plan was to do the 20 miler I didn't do on Saturday because of snow. The temp was in the low 30s when I was getting ready to leave and the sun was shining. I had on my shorts ready to go but decided to play it safe and put on the long running pants just in case the weather changed since I would be getting so far from home. It's a good thing I did because part way into the run the wind started to blow and the sun went away. I had run an out and back route and on the way back the wind was blowing around 20 MPH and there were places where the road had been dry on my way out and now had 3 to 4 inches of snow drifted all the way across from the crosswind. At 15 miles I was at about 7:57 average pace for the run but all but about 1/2 mile of my last 5 was directly into the wind. It was like running into a wall and a lot of the last 4 I was averaging in the 9:20s. The temperature was still in the 30s and I really wasn't dressed warm enough for running directly into that wind. I was only wearing 2 long sleeved tech shirts and some very thin gloves. I was very glad I hadn't gone out in the shorts. Those last 4 miles were very tough and I was very happy to be done. Average pace for 20 miles ended up at 8:15.

     5 easy recovery miles. 8:47 AP

     PM   10 mile mt bike ride. Mud a lot of the way made the ride harder so I counted it for 4 miles.

     9 very slow miles

     Played a hard church tournament basketball game last night. We only had 5 players so no subs. Of our 5 players, 2 of us are 50 and one is 55. The other team had 8 guys with all but 2 in their 20s and 30s and 4 of them 6'2" or taller. I was amazed we hung right with them the whole game and just lost 64 to 60. 

     Started out my run pretty slow for the first couple of miles to work out a few kinks I was feeling from last nights game. After 3 miles I did some fartlek running 3x1/4 and 2x1/2 at anywhere from 5:55 to 6:10 pace with slower recoveries of equal distance between. 6 miles overall ave pace 7:37.

6 slow miles. My hip was a little sore again so I just went very easy. 9:27 AP.

     13 miles today starting with 4 at 7:46 ave. followed by an MP run of 9 miles at 6:53 ave. [7:05, 6:55, 6:55, 6:54, 6:54, 6:53, 6:53, 6:46, 6:46].  Very strange how every 2 miles were exactly the same then got 1 second faster for the next 2. I had no idea the mile splits were coming out like that until I got home and plugged in my Garmin. This workout felt better than most that I have done lately. It's a little more encouraging for my fitness as I get closer to Boston than I have felt the past few weeks. 1:32:58 for 13 miles.

     AM   I've been feeling a bit more worn out than normal during a lot of my runs the past few weeks and it has felt harder to hit the paces I would like in my harder runs. I've also had some minor injuries that keep coming and going [mainly my right hip]. With Boston coming up I hate to cut my mileage any so last week I tried running a lot of my easy miles extra slow. It seemed to help. I felt better on last Saturdays workout than any I've done lately. So this morning I just kept it very easy for 10 miles at 9:21/mile. My hip felt better than it has.

     PM   4 miles at 9:08 pace. 

     8 miles at 8:36 AP

     PM   3 miles at 8:32 AP in blowing snow.

     Started out today with 2 miles warm up at 7:58. Then for the next 2 miles I went 1/4 mile hard [around 5:45 pace] , 1/4 mile easy. Then ran another 1/2 mile over to the top of a large hill that climbs almost 300 ft in a mile to get in some hill running before Boston. I ran the one mile down in 6:38 then back up in 8:19. Back down in 6:36 then back up in 8:00. Running down was a bit easier than MP effort and running up was a bit harder than MP effort. Finished off with another 1 1/2 miles at 7:30/mile ave. Overall pace for 10 miles was 7:22/mile.

     Another 10 easy miles. 8:57 AP

     5 miles easy. 8:45 AP

     Shamrock Shuffle in Smithfield this morning. I looked at the weather report last night and it said snow changing to rain in the morning. This brought back memories of last years race, especially after the race when Paul P Scott E and I went for a cool down run  in the blizzard. When I left home this morning it was 28 degrees but by the time the race started at 10:00, it had to be close to 40 deg and sunny. Real nice. This race only costs 4 bucks if you wear green. They had a pretty big crowd this year. I got signed up and ran a 3 mile warm up. This is a pretty tough course without any flat stretches. It starts right out with a big 1/2 mile climb up about a 4% grade then turns and has a nice drop that isn't quite as steep for the rest of the mile. The second mile has a lot of nice downhill. The rest of the race is all uphill. It's mostly a long gradual climb of about 70 to 80 feet and gets a little steeper the last 1/4 mile.

      I took off up the first hill and was at about a 7 min pace at the top of the climb. I picked it up after the first hill and finished the first mile in 6:26. 2nd mile was 5:51 and I felt like I had a chance to go under 19 min but the next mile uphill was too much and I ran a 6:21. Final .1 was 34 seconds [5:47 pace]. Finished in 19:13. Good for 1st in my age group. I felt pretty good about that time for that course and this time of year. I beat last years time by 26 seconds. I've been getting in a lot more mileage than I was this time last year but nothing faster than marathon pace.

     Ran another 4 after I got home.

     22 mile long run today. I moved it to today since I ran a race last Saturday. It was 35 deg and lightly raining this morning when I headed out. Not much wind so it wasn't too bad. The rain got a lot heavier the second half and I was thoroughly drenched by the time I was done. I took a route that took me through a number of hills including two 1 mile climbs and descents of 300 ft. My average pace for the first 9 miles was 7:55. I picked the pace up a little and averaged 7:37 for the final 13 miles. at 16 miles I dropped down the last big downhill and my hip was a bit sore by the time I reached the bottom. Mile 18 was my last big climb and I was pretty beat and slowed a lot for the next mile after the hill. I actually got feeling a little better for the last 3 miles and ran the last mile in 7:12 which was my fastest mile that wasn't downhill. My hip was a bit sore after the run. Hopefully it will recover quickly. Overall pace for 22 was 7:45/mile.

     My hip was still a bit sore today so decided to play it safe and not run. I went for a 30 mile ride on my road bike. I can tell my biking condition isn't good right now.

     Easy 8 mile run this morning. My hip flexor felt fine today. 8:58 AP.

     10 easy miles. Nice morning. 8:46 AP

     PM   4 miles at 8:35 AP.  My hip flexor soreness after Mondays long run seams to be gone. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

     24 deg this morning and calm. I started out this morning with 4 miles between 8:20 and 8:30 pace. Then another mile easy downhill in 7:23.  back up the hill at a hard effort in 8:07. Half mile recovery the 2x1 miles at 6:38 and 6:30 with 1/2 mile recovery between. Last mile 7:39. My legs felt pretty heavy during the first 4 miles but got feeling pretty good on the second half of the run. 7:46/mile overall ave for 10 miles.

     10 miles very easy in a lot of wind. Doing a few of my runs extra slow the past couple of weeks seems to have given me better energy.

     My plan this morning was to run a half marathon at marathon pace. I was worried about the wind because it has been very windy and we are supposed top be getting more storms today. The temperature was 36 with no wind this morning. Perfect. My wife dropped me off 15 miles down the road and I started off with 2 miles warm up at 7:49 pace. My plan was to start out in the 6:50 to 7:00 range for the first half of the run and see how I felt. I was hoping I would feel good enough to pick the pace up a bit more toward the end. I started out how I wanted with my first 8 miles all between 6:51 and 6:58 depending on how much up or down hill there was in each mile with the exception of mile 6 which was all uphill I ran a 7:12. At about mile 7 I started to get a bit of a headwind which got a lot worse at mile 8. My pace slowed to as much as 7:10 on some of the next miles so I tried not to worry to much about the pace and just maintain the effort and heart rate. My overall pace for the run was quickly going backward and by the time I had 3 miles to go it had gone above 7 min pace. I picked it up on the last mile to see if I could get it back under 7:00 and ran a 6:45 last mile into the wind and 40 second last .1 and just passed the 7:00 min guy in the last 1/4 mile. finished in 1:31:35, 6:59/mile average pace. I was planning to try and run around 1:30. If you figure in the headwind I probably came close but this run took a lot more effort than I had hopped. My actual MP would definitely be much slower than that right now. I felt pretty spent by the end. I ran 1 more cool down mile at the end to make the total for the run 16 miles. Hopefully with exactly 4 weeks until Boston I can stay healthy and improve my fitness a bit more.

     6 easy 9:15 AP

     Ran 10 miles this morning up past the reservoir. It was the first time in a while that I've been this way because it's been too muddy lately. This morning with the temps in the low 20s everything was frozen so I gave it a try. It was a very pretty morning and I saw a lot of wildlife. Pheasants, Hungarian Partridge, ducks, and geese up near the inlet of the reservoir. The rest of the reservoir was still ice covered. After the sun got up a bit it started to quickly thaw some of the mud on the surface. On my way back some areas that had been frozen nicely were quickly getting a bit sticky. It was building up on the bottom of my shoes and adding a lot of noticeable weight and covering the backs of my calves [I had worn shorts] with globs of mud that were getting thrown up. Lots of fun. Great run. It was the first run in a while where I'm wasn't counting down the miles at the end of the run and anxious to be done. At the end of this run I felt great like it had just been a walk in the park and I could turn right around and do it again. I wasn't looking forward to being done. Surprising after running very hard 2 days ago. 10 miles at 8:17 AP.

     PM   4 miles at 9:07 pace.

     Went out for 10 this morning. Started with rain then changed to snow and back to rain at the end. 8:55 AP.

     11 miles this morning. There was some snow falling and a bit of wind. I started out with 3 miles warmup at just under 7:54/mile AP. Then 1 mile down the big highway hill in 6:25 [easy marathon pace effort]. Turned and ran back up in 7:33 [probably around 10k effort]. That was a PR for up that hill. Then 1/2 mile recovery then 2x1 mile at 6:39 and 6:34 and 1.5 mile at 6:31 pace with 1/2 mile between each at around 7:35 pace. Last mile in 7:05. I felt pretty good about this workout. I was surprised that after the hard uphill effort in the fifth mile that I felt pretty fresh for the rest of the run. I felt good at the end and was tempted to run another fast mile or two but played it safe and quit. I too often seem to injure myself around this part of my marathon training.

     7:12/mile overall pace for 11 miles

     PM   20 miles mt bike. I guess I should have done some VO2 max miles today and I would have had something in each category.

     Snow this morning but by noon it had melted and cleared off. It made for a pretty nice run. 10 miles at 8:27/mile.

     Today was my last run over 20 before Boston. The weather sounded terrible for this morning with lots of snow and wind. When I left this morning it was snowing but not sticking to the roads. It was hard to know how to dress. It wasn't that cold but with the weather changing you never know when the wind can start blowing the snow hard and it can feel a whole lot colder quickly. I wound up carrying a fleece type jacket tied around my waist the whole run just in case but never used it. I went 24 miles that included a lot of hills including the 2 highway hills that climb almost 300 ft in about a mile coming and going. I averaged 7:56 for the first 8 miles then 7:33/mile ave for next 16 miles. I timed it so that I would go up the last big hill at mile 18 and have 6 left to run after that similar to Boston only this hill is over twice what heartbreak hill appears to be. I felt pretty spent after topping the hill and trying to get back to a better pace over the next mile but soon got feeling better. I averaged 7:15 for the last 3 miles and 7:01 last mile. I was very glad to be done but actually felt better at the end than the 22 miler I did 2 weeks ago on the same route. The run took 3:04:34 which is a time I would be happy with in the marathon. Overall pace for 24 miles was 7:41.

     4 mile recovery run. 9:12/mile

     20 miles mountain bike. Lots of mud.

     Just 8 miles easy. My legs were still feeling a bit heavy probably still not recovered from Mondays run. 8:57 AP.

     I had much better energy today but kept it easy anyway. I ran 10 miles up around the reservoir. Most of the mud is gone now. The reservoir is still covered in ice all but the edges where there were a lot of ducks. 8:23 AP.

     I did a bit of a harder workout today that was about the same as I did the past 2 Fridays. I ran a 3 mile warm up at 7:47 AP then 1 mile down the big highway hill in 6:38. Back up the hill in 7:15. Last week I ran it in 7:33 which was was the fastest I had ever done that mile long climb. Today I had about an 8 MPH tailwind which helped. After the top of the hill I did 1/2 mile easy then 4x1 miles at 6:31 to 6:39 pace. I ran 1/2 mile between each at about 7:30/mile pace. It was the nicest day of the year so far. I finished just after dark. 7:09/mile ave for 11 miles

     Just a nice easy run this morning. Ran up around the reservoir again and saw lots of wildlife. Ducks, geese, pheasants, Hungarian Partridge, Turkeys, deer, and a big v-formation of around a hundred swans flew over low. I went 11 miles at 8:28 AP.

     I was planning a harder workout this morning. I was planning to go 17 miles with a lot of them at marathon pace. It was cold this morning with about a 5 MPH wind. I started with 3 miles warm up at about 7:45 pace. By the time I got that far the wind had picked up to about 20 MPH. I picked up the pace and ran the next mile in 6:56. The wind really sucked and I just wasn't feeling it this morning so I bailed on the workout and figured I'll try it tomorrow so I just ran another 4 at around 8:15 pace. Now tomorrow I'll probably have the wind back with rain or snow added to it. Hopefully I'll feel more energetic. 8 miles at 7:55 AP.

     I did the workout today that I bailed on yesterday. It was warmer this morning at 38 deg but it was still windy but not as bad as yesterday. When I started out the run my energy level felt no better than yesterday. Maybe even worse. I started with 3 warm up miles that averaged 7:50. Then the next 13 miles I did 3 out and backs of 4 miles, 4 miles, then 5 miles. This made it so I never had to have a headwind for more than 1 1/2 miles at a time. I took 3 min breaks between each. I wasn't really feeling it when I started the first 4 but started feeling better as the run went on. Average for 1st 4 was 6:57. Next 4 was 6:50. Next 5 was 6:47 ave pace. Average for the 13 miles was 6:51. I was doing 1 cool down mile to finish and slowed my pace quite a bit to start but after about  1/4 mile I was feeling good and picked the pace back up and finished the last mile in 7:03 so that actually made 14 MP miles. I felt pretty good about this workout but it doesn't seem like there's any way I could maintain that pace for a whole marathon. Being at sea level should help some though. Tomorrow I will start my taper. I may even take it off completely. Overall pace for 17 miles was 7:03 AP.  

     4 easy. 8:58 AP

     7 miles today in a snow storm. 8:32 AP.

     I went out in the falling snow and ran 9 miles. I went 2 miles warm up at 7:46 AP then 1 mile down the big highway hill in 6:10 [felt like MP effort]. Then back up in 7:46 [half marathon effort]. I ran 1/2 recovery then I did 3x1 mile at half mar. pace with a 1/2 mile fast recoveries at about 7:30 pace. I hit 6:31, 6:31, and 6:25 for the 3. I don't feel like I could run a half at those paces right now even though I averaged from 6:29 to 6:31 in my last 3 halves. I feel a little slower right now but hopefully with my mileage being more consistent than it has been for any of my other marathons I can make up for the loss in speed by not crashing so bad in the later miles. I finished up with 1/2 half mile at 7:05 pace. overall pace for 9 was 7:05.

     Just ran 7 miles today and felt great. I just kept the pace nice and easy. I had a pretty strong headwind with some snow falling most of the way out but the snow got coming down a lot harder on the way back but I didn't mind since it was a tailwind. I plan to run about 13 on Monday but very short runs the rest of the week. I think I'm ready.   8:49/mile AP

     Nice morning with temps in the 40s. Since today is kind of like what would normally be the Saturday before the race I went for one last semi long run. I ran 15 miles out the highway and up and down the 2 big hills which makes for about 600 ft total climb and 600 ft drop. I averaged 7:43 pace for the first 7 miles then 7:14 pace for 8 miles. The 14th mile was up one of the big hills and I ran it in 7:58 and the last mile in 6:47. Those last 2 felt a bit harder than marathon pace. I ran this run a bit faster than I had planned but it all felt pretty comfortable until the last 2 miles. The little bit of tapering that I started last week must be helping. This was my last harder run before the marathon and everything is still feeling pretty good. I guess you could say the hay is in the barn at this point with just a few easy runs left this week. 15 miles at 7:28/mile ave.

     4 easy miles this morning at 8:37 AP. Feeling good.

     4 easy visiting family in Milford PA

     We drove up to the Pennsylvania farm house today which is one of my favorite places to run. I did some laps on the very hilly 2.37 mile loop. I ran a couple of miles at 7:44 pace then did a lap at 6:48 pace. Then 3/4 miles at 7:58 pace.

     2 miles easy.

     The Boston Marathon this morning was an overall awesome experience. My wife and son and stepson spent the night in a hotel in a small town about 15 miles from the start line after making the 4 hour drive yesterday from Milford Pennsylvania. The roads in Hopkinton were open until 7:30 AM so my wife drove me to within about a quarter mile of the start area and I walked to the school to wait. I found a spot to sit on the lawn down in a corner that was in the sun and somewhat out of the wind. I was glad that I had some long pants to wear and felt bad for the freezing people that didn't. I chatted a bit with a couple of other runners that were sitting around me and I ate a banna and drank some water. I thought it was funny to see how a lot of people were checking out everybody else's # on their bags to see how they were seeded.

     The weather couldn't have been better with temps in the low to mid 50s and a favorable wind. The wind was pretty nasty in Hopkinton but once the race got down into the trees I didn't feel it much. Three different times during the race I actually felt a tailwind blowing hard enough that I could feel it hit my back but each time it was quickly gone. I also noticed crosswinds and even headwinds at times but I think most of the wind speed was at or below my running pace so it felt like no wind at all which at times actually made the 50 deg weather feel hot. I was sweating a lot and was actually dumping cups of water on my head to try and cool down. I guess I was just used to training in the cold Idaho winter and extra cool spring this year.

     I was very ready to go by the time 10 o'clock rolled around. We made the long walk to the starting corrals and packed into them. My number was 3077 so I just missed the 3rd corral. In the 4th corral I had 3,000 runners between me and the starting line.  The elites were only a short distance away when they were introduced but I couldn,t quite see them over all of the heads in front of me. After a short wait and the National Anthem it was time to start. They removed the ropes separating the corrals and everyone began to walk forward. It was very crowded. I've never been in a race before where the gun goes off and you are just standing there. Finally we were walking and 1 minute and 40 seconds later we were jogging over the start mat. The pace finally started picking up a little but my main focus was just trying not to trip and fall. The sea of bobbing heads going down the road and out of sight ahead of me was awesome.  The first mile has the steepest downhill and I was only able to manage a 6:55. It seemed like over the next couple of miles the crowd was still running slower than I wanted and I started doing a lot of zig zagging to get around people. It was impossible to run tangents in that crowd. I tried it once or twice but figured I was using more energy to get throught the crowd to get across the road [to take the inside on the curves] than to just stay with the flow. I think by the time I hit mile 4, my Garmin was already reading .07 miles long. The early miles felt good and my pace was always faster than expected. Whenever I checked my Garmin I was seeing 6:30s when I was expecting to see upper 6:40s. It felt easy so I just went with it. The section past Wellesley Girls college was everything it had been described to me and the roar in my right ear from all the screaming girls was crazy. And no I didn't kiss any coeds but I did give a few high fives. The whole race route was basically a huge party And I high-fived a lot of kids along the way.

     I hit the half in 1:29 and knew it was going to be tough to hold a good enough pace to go sub 3. Mile 15 is where I started to slow a bit. I thought sub 3 was a real possibility early on but now I knew there was no chance especially knowing the Newton Hills were still to come. I started getting some major GI discomfort at this point and nearly lost my bowel control. I think it may have been from eating a little too much fruit during my carb loading yesterday and the GU I had taken at the half may not have helped. The rest of the race I was fighting to keep control of my bowels and I never took another GU but I did eat some bananas pieces and an orange slice. I thought a lot about stopping at a POP but never did. My whole body was beginnig to feel more discomfort from the fast early pace. Mile 15 was the first mile over 7 at 7:02 and it was just slightly uphill. From that point my focus was just to beat my PR of 3:05:25 from St George. Miles 17 through 21 with the 4 Newton hills were tough for me. I was feeling the effects from going out faster than I probably should have so I just relaxed and took the hills easy so I would hopefully have something left for the last 6 miles I felt like a lot of people were passing me going up the hills and I wanted to go with them but I kept telling myself it would pay off later not to push and I know I did pass a lot of them later on in the race. I forgot that there are 4 climbs through Newton and when I crested the third ohill I thought I had just finished Heartbreak Hill. We had even driven the route yesterday on our way into Boston. I thought it didn't quite look like I remembered and I kept waiting for the downhill on the backside. It was a bummer when I finally realized that Heartbreak Hill was still to come. I did finally get there and took it easy like the other hills. It was good to be finished with the major hills for sure this time.

     Going through Boston College was pretty crazy too but I don't think they quite compared to Wellesly. This is the point at my last Marathon that I really started to die and was running close to 8 min pace. This time I felt the best I have in the last miles of a Marathon. I had a lot of discomfort but it didn't seem to be getting worse and I think it was the first time in a marathon that neither my calves or quads were cramping at this point. I ran miles 23-25 in 7:06,7:06, and 7:03. Whenever I needed a boost I just raised up my hands and the huge noisy crowd would cheer even louder. I passed a ton of people through those last miles. The last couple of miles before turning onto Hereford Street seemed a lot longer than when we drove it yesterday. Finally I could see the runners ahead making the right turn and I knew it was close. After running one block up Hereford it was a great feeling and one I had only imagined to make that left turn down Boylston Street for than final 600 meters of roaring crowd to the finish line that you can now see. I knew I would never find them in the crowd but knowing that my family was part of the cheering crowd added to the adrenaline. I ran the last .42 at 6:18 pace. I threw my hands up as I crossed the line and was so glad to be able to stop running. 

     Because of the poor tangents I was forced to run throughout the race, my Garmin had the last stretch at .42. I finished in 3:03:24 for a 2 minute PR. My next goal over a PR was to finish under 7:00 pace. My Garmin had me at 6:56 with the extra nearly quarter mile of distance but officially it's right at 6:59.6 so just barely got it. I am very happy with that time and pleased that I didn't completely die in the last few miles and I finished about 1200 spots ahead of my qualifying number. I was in the top 3.4% of my age group which had almost 2,000 start the race.

     It seemed like I had to walk forever and finally was able to go in the basement of the John Hancock building to a restroom.  I apologize for this part but it was such a major relief to finally just let go and I felt like I just lost several pounds. I normally try to be quiet and discrete while in a stall but there was no holding back this time and I just didn't care. It's the only race where I have carried my cell phone and it was a great help in locating my family. I was so happy to see them and a little jealous that they got to watch Geoffery Mutai run down Boyleston Street and cross the line in the fastest ever marathon time of 2:03:02 and also see Ryan Hall get his 2:04:58. They also got to watch the epic back and forth battle between American Desiree Davila and Kenyan Caroline Kilel for the women's win. But I felt bad for them having to wait so long in the cold. My poor wife was freezing.

     I'm actually going up and down stairs much easier than after any of my other marathons.

     Splits: 6:55,6:37,6:34,6:29,6:48,6:39,6:37,6:49,6:45,6:48,6:57,6:47,6:52,6:50,7:02,6:47,7:17,7:21,

7:12,7:25,7:40,6:55,7:06,7:06,7:03,7:19,[6:18]

     5K splits: 20:59, 21:01, 21:35, 21:32, 22:36, 22:55, 22:15, and 9:42 last 2.2

     Congrats to Paul Peterson 17 overall and 3rd American.

     We drove the 4 hours back to My Mother in laws home in Pennsylvania right after the race. I had some uncomfortable post race muscles being in the car that long that quickly after the marathon. I'm just glad my step son Joseph was driving. 

     I am amazed at how easy I am going up and down stairs the day after a marathon. Much easier than ever before. I do have sore quads but nothing like normal. Not sure if this means I could have pushed harder or that I was better conditioned. We flew home today.

Took an easy 2 mile run. Everything felt real good except my right quad got a little tight partway through. Kept it short. No need to rush back in. 8:21 AP

     Ran 5 miles and everything felt good. I felt like going a lot farther but resisted the urge. There have been a couple of other times that I have felt great the week after a marathon and jumped back into regular training too quickly only to wind up with an injury. 8:15 AP.

     20 mile mountain bike ride in the falling snow.Roads a little muddy.

     22 deg this morning. Hard to believe it's almost May. The sun came up and warmed things up quickly. I ran 6 miles this morning and it felt great. 7:48 AP

     Another 6 miles this morning. Kept it comfortable and everything is still feeling good. 8:03 AP

     We left last night and traveled down to southern Utah into the Escalante Grand staircase National Monument to spend the weekend and do some hiking and see some sights. We camped at the Calf Creek Falls campground. I did a short run from camp int the afternoon down the highway. I was planning to go about 6 miles but 1 1/2 miles out the road got very steep and I was worried about the pounding of too much steep downhill so soon after the marathon so I turned back after 2 miles. I thought about adding a couple more miles but just ran back to camp to make it an even 4.   8:30 AP We also did some hikes in the petrified forest.

     I took off before breakfast and ran from camp up the calf creek falls trail [6 miles round trip] up to the falls. The trail was a bit of a challenge with sandy sections, some rocky sections, some of it on slickrock with short steep ups and downs that are basically like climbing steps. It was a gorgeous morning and such beautiful country. It's a very popular trail but I got on it early enough that I finished without seeing a soul. I pushed pretty hard on the way back to get below 9 minute pace and finished with 8:46 overall AP which I felt was pretty good considering the terrain. After breakfast I hiked it again with my Wife and son, my parents, and my brother and his family. Its a very nice hike and neat spot. 

     8 miles in the evening. 8:08 AP

     8.5 total miles this morning. I ran the first 4 at 7:52 pace. I'm planning to run a 5k a week from Saturday and since I haven't done anything faster than 1/2 marathon pace for a while, I decided I had better do something to get my legs moving a little quicker so I did the next 4 miles of fartlek with 4x1/4 miles fast with 1/4 slower between then 2x1/2 fast with 1/2 slower. Followed by another 1/2 mile cooldown. I ran the faster parts between 5:50 and 6:00 ave pace/mile and the slower parts around 7:45 ave pace. 6:52 overall pace for last 4.5 miles and 7:21 overall ave pace/mile for 8.5.

     Nice day today. I ran up past the reservoir today and saw the loons for the first time this year.They come back every spring and hearing their eerie calls make it feel more like spring even though we're still hitting low 20s every morning. 9 miles at 8:25 AP

     Nice morning for a run. It started cold again but the sun quickly warmed things and it was calm. Just did another 8 miles at a comfortable pace. Everything is feeling pretty good. It seems like I come away from most marathons with some lingering issue but so far so good.

     Ran on the track today for the first time since probably last summer some time. I ran a 4 mile warmup at 7:50 ave then 5x1000. The first 4 were all 3:54 and the last was in 3:50 with 1 lap recovery at about 8:30 pace. This pace seemed to feel harder than it should have. Hopefully it will feel a little easier next week. Ave pace for 8.5 miles was 7:17.

     Went for an easy 8 miles in the middle of the day. I think it was the warmest day this year at 70 deg. It felt like 85. I'm not used to that at all. 8:27 AP.

     Went out in the rain for my run today. It wasn't raining real hard but the wind was blowing about 25 MPH. I couldn't take my preferred route because of mud which made it so I had to run the first 4 miles directly into the wind and rain. It was nice to turn around and have it at my back. Later the wind went away and the rain got a lot heavier. Given the choice, I would take the heavier rain without the wind. 10 miles at 8:30/mile.

     Looks like I got drawn in the St George Marathon lottery. Looking forward to that this fall.

     Raining a bit again but there was no wind. Much better than yesterday. After yesterdays run I had a little soreness in my hip so I kept the pace extra easy today and everything felt good. 8.2 miles at 8:58/mile.

Went back to the track today for a short workout. I ran 4 miles warmup at 7:49/mile. Then a short workout.

1x1000 - 3:40

1x1200 - 4:30

1x400  -  1:27

3x200  -   :42

I meant to do 2x1000 but lost track of my laps and did 1200 on the second. The 1000s felt a lot better than the ones that I did last week but faster than I think I could run a 5k right now. I did another 1.25 miles cool down at 7:35/mile. Overall pace for 8 was 7:23/mile.

     Very easy 8 miles. Nice day.  8:55 AP

     6 miles today with a few striders near the end. 8:26 AP.

     Ran the Conquer the Canyon 5K down in Smithfield this morning. This is a tough course that climbs about 250 feet up the canyon for the first half then right back down. I haven't quite been able to break 19 minutes on this course yet but came in at 19:01 last year. I have only done marathon training this spring preparing for Boston so I was curious to see how that would work in a 5k. It was a perfect morning with the temp in the lower 50s [the past 2 years it's been in the 20s and 30s] and they had a record turnout with 650 runners between the 5&10 Ks. I did a 2 mile warm up and was ready to go. The race started and I took off  and was surprised to be in 3rd place with just 2 high school aged kids ahead of me. After about a mile the first kid had a pretty good lead but the second was hanging about 30 yards ahead. I went through the first mile in 6:36. From about the first 1/2 mile we were weaving in and out of the slower 10k runners that had started 5 minutes ahead of us going up the winding canyon road. We hit the 5k turnaround and I was about 15 yards back from second place. Now we get to run back through all the 10k runners we had passed coming up and now they were mixed with 5k runners. I finished the second mile [1/2 up and 1/2 down] in 6:24 and passed the second place runner somewhere in here. The 3rd mile was all downhill and I ran it in 5:38. I ran hard the last bit but came up just short of going under 19 at 19:06 and second place overall. I thought I felt good during the race I just didn't feel like I could go faster. It probably didn't help that I haven't done any speed work until last week and very low mileage for 3 weeks tapering and recovering from Boston.

     PM Ran 6 miles easy.

     Went out for 10 miles. perfect temperature at 52 nice easy run with 5 or 6 short striders in the last 2 miles. 8:11 AP

     Another 10 miles up around the reservoir. It finally stopped raining long enough to dry out the mud up there. Nice cool temps again. 8:09 AP.

     Ran on the track this morning. Started out with a 3 mile warm up then 6x200 and 2x400. I averaged 40 seconds on the 200s and 1:20 each on the 400s with recovery of equal distance between each at around 8:30/mile. Cool down for a couple more laps. 7:23/mile overall AP

     3 miles 8:48 AP

     I'm running another 5k tomorrow. I usually don't do much of a taper for 5ks but decided to try a bigger one with 3 miles yesterday and 2 today. 8:08 AP

     I ran the 5K in Ogden this morning that is held in conjunction with the marathon. My wife and son and I came down and stayed with my parents last night so we'd have a shorter drive in the morning. I ran the Smithfield 5K last week and last year I ran the same 2 races back to back. I thought I might be in better shape this year because of my marathon training for Boston this past winter and spring but I ended up 5 seconds slower on last weeks race than I was last year. I had only done any 5k speed running the week before last weeks race so I was hoping this second week with some 5k type training would help me beat last years time of 18:38 on this race. 

     The temp was in the upper 40s with almost no wind to start the race. Perfect conditions.  The race starts out down a little more than 1/4 mile stretch of road then onto a bike path. I took off fast to try and get ahead of as many people [there were about 900 in the race] as possible before we hit the bike trail where it's tough to be in a crowd. I had about 10 runners ahead of me when we hit the path after running about 5:35 pace. By the time I hit the first mile mark I had passed all but a group of 4 kids from the Bonneville High Cross country team who were about 60 or 70 yards ahead. Mile one was 5:51. During the next mile the Bonneville kids spread out and I caught and passed the first 2 about 1/2 way through the mile. That put me in 3rd with 2nd place about 50 yards up. By the end of mile 2 I was about 10 yards back and finished the mile in 6:01. You leave the bike path at this point and get on Grant street. The whole last mile is straight and flat very slight uphill [not enough to notice]. I seem to always run faster once leaving the bike bath with it's short quick ups and downs and turns. I was gradually gaining on 2nd and with 1/2 mile to go I passed him and put on a little distance hoping to break him. He caught back up with 1/4 to go and I fought but couldn't hold him off. My legs were just dead. I finished mile 3 in 5:45 and the last .12 [according to my Garmin] in 41 seconds [5:52 pace]. Slower pace than my last mile. That has never happened before. I usually finish that last .1 of a 5k at or under 5 min pace but my legs went to jello. My legs were so wobbly and I felt like I was going to pass out I was breathing so hard I had to sit down and catch my breath after crossing thte finish.

     I've done this race 3 times with a Garmin and it has always read 3.12. Not sure if it's just the winding path [I focused on taking good tangents] or if they just always add a few yards to the end of Marathon courses to certify that they aren't short. After the finish they had my Gun time at 18:19 [which I think is accurate] and my chip time at 19:11. My Garmin said 18:21 but I hadn't stopped it right on the finish. They said my chip activated the sensor a minute early so I'm not sure of my actual chip time. It's got to be a second or 2 faster because they started us 10 feet back from the line and I was 3 rows back from the front. They haven't posted times yet. I was amazed to run this 20 seconds faster than last year after being slower last week.

     For 3rd place overall I got a nice plaque and a $200 Suunto training watch. I'll have to call this my new PR. My fastest is 18:16 from 4 years ago but it was a downhill course that was probably 40 seconds faster than this course. After Boston and this race, I have now run faster times these past 2 years, at 50+ yrs. of age, at all distances that I've raced. I haven't done a 10k since 50 but plan to take care of that on this year.

     The day after the race they have results posted and have me at 18:08 for gun time and chip time. My wife filmed my finish and when I crossed the finish the clock said 18:19 and you could see when I stopped my watch 3.5 seconds after the finish. My Garmin read 18:21  so I guess I'll stick with 18:18.

     After Saturdays race, everything was feeling good. Saturday evening my right hamstring/glute area was sore. I also felt some very slight burn in it last Thursday [which was the day following my last speed work].  Between doing speed work and 2 races over the past 3 weeks, I think it was a little too much too quick. It was sore all day Sunday but felt fine today. No running for a couple of days just to play it safe. This is the same hamstring that has given me problems in the past so I need to nip this in the bud.

     Hamstring felt good again today but decided not to run yet. I went for a mountain bike ride and got a flat 1 mile from home. I carry what I need for repairs on my road bike but not my mt bike. This was the first flat on that bike. Luckily I didn't have to walk too far before a neighbor came along in his truck and gave me a ride home. I fixed the tire and went back out for another 15 miles. It rained all morning but was quite pleasant in the PM when I went.

     Tried a short run this morning. I went 4.5 miles slow and easy and decided I would stop if I felt any discomfort in the hammy. It felt 100% during the run so if it still feels good tonight, I'll try something longer tomorrow. 8:57 AP

     Hamstring felt pretty good last night with just a small amount of discomfort. It felt good today so I ran 8 miles and just kept the pace relaxed and easy. Everything felt good on the run. I'm probably being extra cautious with this but I've had a couple of hamstring issues in the past that started the same way and wound up taking months to get back to 100%.  8:26 AP

     Got out for an 8 mile run just before dark. It was about 50 deg with some wind and dark looking clouds moving in. I brought a light jacket with gloves and a hat tied around my waist just in case I got caught in blowing rain. A couple of miles into the run the wind mostly quit and it just turned into a very nice evening run up to the reservoir. I brought the jacket for nothing. Better safe than sorry I guess. Took it nice and easy again then picked it up to about 7:40 pace the last 2 miles. Hammy still feeling good. 8:25 AP

     Went for 8 miles right before dark again. It was about 50 deg. Perfect running weather.  I was planning to keep all of my miles slow again today but after the first 4 miles at 8:14 ave I was just feeling to good and picked it up more with each mile on my way back. I averaged 7:17 for the last 4 miles including the last 2 at 7:03 and 6:48. 

     I ran 13 miles this morning in a lot of wind and rain. It was about 45 deg and no rain or wind when I started. About a mile in the wind got stronger. It was at my back so I knew I would be fighting it all the way back. Then I started getting hit with some on and off showers. It wasn't too bad on the way out but by the time I turned back the wind had gotten even stronger and of course it started raining harder too. It wasn't fun running into a 20 mph headwind getting pelted with rain. The rain let up after a couple of miles but not the wind. I had 4 1/2 miles coming back directly into the wind and I got above 9:00 pace on some of those. We have sure had more wind and rain this spring than I can remember. A lot of years we can started cutting alfalfa by memorial day but this year it's not even close because of the cool weather. 8:19 AP

     8 miles this morning at a nice easy pace. The temp was about 50 deg with no wind. Can't ask for better than that. We are supposed to hit 70 today and it's probably going to get hot real soon. It may be one of the last days like this before summer. 9:06 AP

     Another 8.5 miles today at an easy pace. I ran a little later today and the temp was in the lower 70s. It always seems to feel a lot warmer than that the first few times of the summer. I had about a 15 mph headwind that came up the last couple of miles and was very welcome. The mud had dried enough that I was able to run up to the reservoir. I don't know how many killdeers I saw running along just in front of me trying to make me think I was about to catch them as they led me away from their nests. 8:43 AP

     Ran 8 miles today. First 4 miles progression from 8:18 to 7:37 then went into some fartlek running 1/2 mile fast then 1/2 slow 3 times. The first 2 were into a quartering 15 mph crosswind headwind and I ran them in 3:03 and 3:00. The 3rd one I had turned a corner so the wind was more of a crosswind tailwind but it was uphill and I hit 3:07 on that one. They were all 3 a pretty hard effort. Last mile in 7:30. 7:33 AP overall.

     I didn't get out until about 20 minutes after sundown for this run so it got pretty dark on the way back. The temp was at 50 deg and it was dead calm. It was a very nice run. I just kept the pace comfortable and it was so peaceful out. 7 miles at 7:30/mile AP

     Got out late again tonight about 1/2 hour after sundown for 8.5 miles. Another perfect evening with temps in the mid 50s, calm, and peaceful. I didn't plan on pushing the pace at all again just keeping it comfortable. It was completely dark after 4 miles so I never really looked at my garmin. Just ran what felt good. My first couple of miles were in the 8:20s but after that my pace was from 15 to 20 seconds faster with each mile. miles 6,7,and 8 were 7:24, 6:58, 6:42. I was wearing my New Balance 101s. A very minimal trail shoe without much heel rise and fairly light. I've been running in these once a week and always seem to run a little faster in them. Last 1/2 mile was on a dirt road with a few potholes so I ran it slow since it was dark. 8 miles @ 7:44/mile 

     Another late PM run today but this time I finished just before it got completely dark. It had rained about an hour earlier so it was nice and cool. It rained lightly during the run a couple of times but was quite nice. I meant to run the whole run very easy [around 8:40 pace] but saw a couple of my neighbors riding their horses up the dirt road about 3/4 mile ahead of me. I had 2 miles to go before my turnaround and couldn't resist seeing if I could catch them first. I always seem to speed up to catch slow moving tractors or people going slow on bikes or anything I think I can catch and pass. I ran a 7:18 next mile and the first half of the next mile about the same pace. I caught and passed them and got too my turn around about 1/4 mile ahead of them. I then slowed it back down for the rest of the run. 8.25 miles @ 8:25/mile

     15 miles this morning at 8:04/mile up around the reservoir.

     I finally got my alfalfa in today. Between waiting for the ground to dry between rainstorms and other delays it seemed to take forever. Just as I finished this evening it started raining hard. Perfect timing except I hadn't run yet. I thought about going out in it but it was really coming down and I just didn't have the motivation. I just about bagged it all together but the rain finally stopped and I got out at 9:30 for a short one. I just ran 4 easy miles and threw in a few 10 to 15 second strides the last mile. During one of the strides something burst out from the thick ditch bank on the edge of a field and ran across the road 5 feet in front of me. It was dark enough I couldn't tell what it was but it sounded to heavy to be a cat. Then it ran across my neighbors driveway and triggered a motion sensor light and I could see it was a big old raccoon. I don't know if I've ever seen one run that fast. I must have startled him worse than he did me.

     We got about another 1/2 inch of rain this morning so I waited and did a PM run. It was nice out with the temp at 61 and a light breeze. I went out for a 4 mile out and back twice on my only stretch of pavement without going out to the highway. First four was a progression. 7:54,7:37,7:15,7:00 for an average pace of 7:26. Then 4 miles of tempo not shooting for any particular pace just run a comfortably hard pace. I ran 6:33, 6:31, 6:20, and 5:59. for an average pace of 6:20. The first 3 miles were what I wanted but there was nothing comfortable about the last mile. The last 3 miles were in 18:50. That's 6:16/mile pace which would be a 19:25 5K. I felt real good about this workout. 6:53 ave pace overall for 8 miles.

     Ran 8.5 recovery miles up to the reservoir. Nice day. 8:23 AP

     I didn't run until noon today and I can sure tell I'm not used to running in the heat. It was 65 deg when I got out and 72 at the end. It sure felt hotter than that. The slight headwind at the end was very welcome. I did the same run as yesterday but threw in a few strides the last 2 miles. Overall pace was 8:28.

     Went out for 15 miles this evening. It was raining this morning and off and on throughout the day and looked like it could rain again when I left but it held off and was beautiful running weather again in the mid 50s. The sun even started to shine just before it went down with a couple of miles to go. My goal on this run was to not push the pace at all and just run what felt very comfortable all the way. Most times on longer runs I start to speed up a lot as I get closer to the end and feel more worn out by the time I finish.  Not sure why. I guess I'm just smelling the barn and wanting to be done. Tonight I was hoping to finish feeling more like I had just run 8 or 10 miles. I kept having to make myself slow down toward the end [especially the last 3 miles]. I think I accomplished this pretty well and at 14 miles I still felt pretty fresh. During the last mile my legs started to feel a bit more like they do at the end of a longer run but not bad. Overall pace was 8:17.

     Ran 9 miles this morning. Just took it nice and easy and enjoyed. 8:49 AP

     Ran 8 miles today with 6 miles tempo.  I ran a 4 mile out and back twice basically the same run I did last week except I ran 6 tempo today and kept them a bit slower especially the last 2 where I got a little crazy last week. Averaged 6:59 first 4 miles 7:40, 7:12, 6:32, 6:34. I stopped about 2 minutes to get a drink and take a rock out of my shoe then 6:37, 6:38, 6:37, 6:35. It was 72 deg with 6 or 7 mph wind. The first 2 miles of each lap were tailwind and the last too were headwind which was welcome because it felt so much cooler. Average pace for 6 miles tempo was 6:35. Overall ave for 8 was 6:48.

     9 miles up past the reservoir this morning. Kept a nice easy recovery pace. 8:39 AP.

     Started out this morning with 5 miles at 7:58 AP which included the highway hill for the 2nd and third mile 6:48 mile down and 8:45 back up at a little harder than medium effort. Over the next 5 miles I ran 5x1/2 mile hard with 1/2 easy recovery between. The 1/2s were 3:00, 2:59, 2:54, 2:54, 2:53. I wasn't trying to run each one faster they just came out that way. Finished off with 1 cool down mile. Overall pace for 10.5 miles was 7:33

     Ran 5.5 miles after dark. I was hoping to run a few more but we got home late so I just ran short and easy and called it good. 8:23 AP

     Ran 16.25 miles this morning. Temps were nice in the 40s to start and 60s to finish. I ran up past the reservoir and out the canal. I put my water stashes back out for the summer and drank a little at 6 and 12 miles. I kept the pace comfortable throughout. With 2 miles to go I noticed my overall pace was at 8:02/mile. I had to resist the urge to pick up the pace to catch and pass the 8 minute guy. It wouldn't have used that much more energy to pick the pace up by 15 seconds/mile, It was more of a moral victory to see if I could do it. I managed to resist and keep the effort even and finished the run at 8:01 ave. pace.

     8.5 miles in the morning at 8:37/mile in the morning before heading out for Yellowstone Park.

     We camped in Yellowstone Park last night and I got up early for a run. The temp was in the lower 30s to start and calm. The sun came up and warmed things into the upper 40s by the time I finished the run. Very nice. I ran to fishing bridge and back which ended up being 10 miles. The elevation is close to 8,000 ft but I didn't notice it much. Maybe a little on the uphills. Average pace was 8:18. During the day we did quite a bit of hiking. Some of them had quite a bit of elevation change. One of them started at the rim of the Yellowstone Grand Canyon and descended 75% of the way to the bottom of the canyon to a viewpoint  below the crest of Lower Yellowstone Falls. Gorgeous view. The last half descends down steep enough cliffs that they have an iron stairway. My son and I ran down the very steep steps. On our way back up we started to take the steps quickly taking 2 at a time. This was fine for a while but my quads and butt started to burn like crazy and I was soon reduced to a quick walk taking every step. It was quite a workout. 

     We stopped for lunch at a picnic area that we had all to ourselves. After we finished lunch and started back down the short road to the highway there was a Grizzly feeding  along the edge of the road. We turned the car around and filmed him out the car window at anywhere from 15 to 35 yards as he made his way along the side of the road and right back past where we had just finished eating. Really cool! We saw 2 more Black Bears later that day. One of them had 2 cubs.

     Another night camping in Yellowstone. I was planning to run again early but when I woke up at 5am I could hear the rain coming down on the tent. I hadn't been getting near enough sleep the past few nights and I lost my motivation to get out of my warm bag and I slept in. The rain cleared out early and it was a beautiful day just like yesterday at around 70 deg. We drove away from camp in the morning to try and spot some wildlife. We saw lots of buffalo and elk and other animals but no bears or wolves like we were hoping. As we were coming back to camp here is a huge male grizzly bear about 100 yards from our tent moving in a direction that appeared he had just gone right past our camp. We saw another female grizzly with 3 cubs that evening.

     We got back home after midnight last night I was up at 4:30am but was too busy all day to find time to run. I hated skipping 2 days straight and I decided I was going to run right after I picked up my son from playing basketball at the church at 10 pm. When I got to the church they talked me into one quick game that turned into another then another until it was 11:30 when we finally left. So 2 days without running.

     It was nice and cool this morning at 4:30 am at 43 deg. Unfortunately I didn't have time to run when it was nice. I finally got out at 6:30 pm when it was 84 deg. I figured I could have gone later after it cooled but I wouldn't be able to go until after 9:30 and I wanted to get to bed earlier. I felt really beat before I left but after I started running I felt better. There was a bit of a breeze that kept the heat from being too unbearable. I ran up past the reservoir and after 4 miles I felt good so I decided to do a workout. for the next 6 miles I did a fartlek run going 4 minutes hard 2 minutes easy.  I ended up with 7 faster segments that totaled 4.33 miles at 6:17 ave pace. They varied from 6:10 to 6:25 pace each depending on hills and wind direction and the two min easy parts were around 8:30 pace. Overall pace for the 6 mile workout was 6:52. overall for all 10 was 7:21 AP. I dunked my shirt in the reservoir at the turn around and that really helped with the heat.

     It was 40 deg this morning at 5 am. It was about 7:00 before I was able to run and the temp was still in the mid 40s. I ran 16 miles at 8:09 pace up past the reservoir and out the canal. The temp was 65 when I finished. We are supposed to hit mid 80s later today and maybe 90 tomorrow. It's amazing it can cool to the 40s after an 85 deg high. Really nice morning and nice run.

     Ran 8 miles up by the reservoir. Another nice cool morning [upper 40s] but we are supposed to get over 90 today. Yesterday I ended up working out in the sun all day and probably walked another 4 miles [some jogging] in hip boots. Not the greatest for recovery from my 16 mile morning run. I felt trashed last night and this morning so I went extra easy this morning. 9:07 AP.

     Went over to Weston canyon this morning to get some uphill and downhill running. There's a 3 mile section I like to run that's a nice gradual grade [around 300 foot climb]. I had planned to do a workout. After a warm up mile I started a tempo run but could tell I just wasn't feeling it today so I just kept the whole run easy and ran 2 miles less than planned. I haven't been getting enough sleep and I think it's catching up to me. I also lost about 4 pounds on Monday and haven't gained much of it back yet so I may be a bit dehydrated. Either way I don't think I have been recovering well from my last few runs. I've got to focus on getting enough sleep and eating and drinking like I should. 8:12 pace overall for 8 miles.

     8 miles midday at 78 deg. I've been up every morning at 5 am to move wheel lines and hand lines for irrigating. It's made it so I usually haven't been able to take advantage of the nice cool mornings in the 40s and 50s. Our cool rainy spring has gone strait to hot and dry. 8:32 AP

     My legs just haven't had any pop this week so I haven't done any kind of a workout. Today I felt a little better so I decided to try a short workout. My hip has been bothering me a bit so I kept the workout minimal  [just 3 faster miles] and the overall distance short at 6 1/2 miles. It was 75 degrees again when I got started. I warmed up for a little over 2 miles at 7:55 pace then went down the big highway hill 1 mile in 6:16. I took about a 2 min break and dipped my shirt in a ditch. 1 mile back up the hill in 7:50. The uphill was the harder effort. After a .3 mile recovery I ran 1/2 mile in 3:06 then 1/2 mile recovery. Then another 1/2 mile in 2:55. Then .61 cooldown. Overall pace was 7:27. I've got a 15K I'm running Monday so hopefully I can recover and get rid of some of this sluggish slow feeling by then.

     My hip has been a bit sore so I decided to skip the run today. With no running today and tomorrow hopefully it will feel better for the race on Monday. I went for a 20 mile off road ride on my mt bike. I haven't been riding at all. I normally ride once or twice a week. There's a biathlon here I like to do every year at the end of the month and I'm in pretty poor cycling shape right now.  This is the second week in a row that my mileage has fizzled the second half of the week and I've ended up with about 20 fewer miles than I had hoped.

     I got up about 4:30 this morning to drive down and run the Freedom Run 15K. My wife and son got up early too and came along with me after we all got to bed around midnight the night before.  My main goal was to come in under 59 minutes. That was the same goal I had last year and I came in at 59 flat. I felt like I have been in better shape this year up until the past 2 weeks. I have felt sluggish and had to cut my miles way back. This morning before we left I took a look at my last years mile splits for the race and figured I would shoot for those. It was a little warmer than usual at the start in the lower 60s with some cloud cover that made it a bit muggy. I can't complain about that for this time of year but it's normally about 15 deg cooler. It's the 35th year for this race and they capped it at 600 runners this year so I'm thinking there were a lot of people that didn't get in. The race started and I really didn't feel that great.

1- 6:12. The first mile has a bit more downhill and is normally a fast one. Last year I ran it in 6:06. I lost 6 sec. here but no big deal. I probably went out too fast last year.

2- 6:28. Last year I hit this one in 6:17 so I started too worry that this was going too be a long day.

3- 6:25 Last years time was 6:16 and I just don't feel like I can run any faster. Just no pop in the legs. I figured the sub 59 was not going to happen and as flat as I feel and as slow as my splits are I'll be lucky to be close to 1 hour.

4- 6:25 At least this is a little closer to last years 6:20 but I'm still bleeding seconds. I'm down 31 seconds from last year already how bad is it going to get. I'm having negative thoughts creep in like "why go through all this discomfort for what I know will be a lousy time anyway". Why not just slow down and take it easy.

5- 6:13 I had quit paying attention to my Garmin and didn't realize I had picked up the pace that much. I had dropped a kid that had run with me since mile one and passed a couple of people that I have always beat that were still running ahead of me. I didn't realize it but I had gained back 9 seconds.

6- 6:20 I gained back 1 more second here over last year.

7- 6:34 During the 7th mile you leave the TOU course [aprrox mile 14] and head up a big hill that's not quite 1/2 mile long and pretty steep. Just before the hill I noticed that my overall pace was at 6:21. Last year it was at 6:17 in the same place and with the hill between me and the finish line my overall pace had dropped 3 seconds by the end. In previous years I had lost about the same so now I'm figuring that would give me about 6:24 overall pace by the end which would be under 1 hour. With a 6:34 on this mile I gained back another 4 seconds.

8- 6:27 The first part of mile 8 is still climbing the last 3rd of the hill then it flattens out. Last year was 6:32 so chipping away a little more. This uphill mile was actually faster than mile 2 which is a downhill mile.

9- 6:05 For the rest of the race I didn't look at my pace much I just tried to run hard. The last quarter of this mile has a nice little downhill. I ran this mile the best I ever had last year at 6:14 so I was surprised to check my Garmin after the race and see that I gained that much time on this mile.

9.31- 1:41 [5:34 pace] Most of the races I run end in .1 or .2. The .3 at the end of this always seems so long. You can see the finish from about this point and it always looks a lot farther than it seems like it should be. I continued to push hard without looking at my time knowing it was possible but unlikely that I could be close to 59 min.

Final chip time was 58:53  6:19/mile overall pace. I actually got back 2 seconds on my overall pace during the last 3 miles rather than loosing a few. I was very happy with the 2nd half of the race and my finish but wonder what was going on the first 4 miles. So that's a new PR for that race and I ended up 1st in age group and 15th overall.

     15 miles mountain bike.

     8 miles up to the reservoir at an easy pace. Hip feeling better. 8:45 AP

     Ran 10.5 up around the reservoir. I felt pretty good this morning and had to resist the temptation to run faster or farther. I kept in mind last year 2 days after the same Freedom Run when I was feeling good and ran a 14 miler and wound up with a hamstring problem that kept me from much training for the next month and a half which should have been the main build up time for TOU last year. Overall pace 10.5 miles.

     8.5 easy miles. I threw in 6 or 7 15-20 second striders  the last 2 1/2 miles. 8:36 AP.

     It was 47 degrees this morning when I started my run. It usually takes me about 2 miles to get warmed up but this morning I was wishing I had started with something warm on. It rained a bit yesterday evening and I think with all the vegetation being wet it made it feel cooler and I was wishing I had at least worn something long sleeved. It took about 4 miles before I felt comfortable but after that it was real nice. 58 degrees by the time I finished. The reservoir looked really cool just before the sun came up with all the steam and mist coming off the water that was much warmer than the air. I ran 17 miles. When I was running along the canal the damp dirt was a bit stickier than on the dirt road and it kept sticking and building up on my shoes until they felt like they were 5 pounds. That lasted for about 5 miles of the run. By the end I was feeling a bit more fatigued than the 15 and 16 milers I have done the last few weeks. I don't think I am completely recovered from Mondays race. My calf muscles were a bit sore for a couple days after the race but then had felt better until the end of this run and the rest of the day today they have been more sore than after the race. Hopefully a day off tomorrow will help.

     Ran 8 miles this morning easy then 20 Mt Bike hard. 8:45 pace on the run. I averaged 16 mph for the 20 miles on the bike. 13 miles of it on dirt road with several big hills. When I haven't been riding my bike a lot, I have a hard time getting my heart rate up even though the slower pace might feel hard. This morning my HR averaged 137 with a 156 max on one of the hills. A run at a comparable effort would have probably had me averaging in the 150s with a max in the 170s. After I'm in better bike shape it's easier to get my heart rate higher and my speed gos up along with it. When I'm in poor running shape it seems like my HR goes up even when the pace is slower.

     9 easy miles up around the reservoir this morning. I think I was feeling a little fatigue from yesterdays ride. 8:36 AP.

     I wasn't able to get out early this morning so I missed the cool hours. It was 72 deg when I started and 80 at the end. I ran a 2 mile warmup at 8:07 pace then down and up the 1 mile highway hill twice. I normally run the harder effort on the uphill. This morning I decided to run the downhill harder. I ran the  first mile downhill in 5:40, back up in 8:27, second downhill 5:36, back up in 8:17. Running the uphill in under 8:30 isn't exactly easy but it's probably not quite MP either. Then I ran 2x1/2 miles and 1x1/4 mile with 1/2 slow recovery. The halfs were 2:54 and 2:59 and 1/4 in 1:21. Final 1/2 at 7:06 pace. I felt good early in the run but got feeling more beat at the end than I expected. I think the hills took more out of me than I expected. Overall though felt like a good workout. Overall pace for 9 miles was 7:17.

     I was up at 5 am but didn't have a chance to run until after 10 pm. The moon was nice and full and the temp had dropped to 64 so it made for a nice run. I just took it real slow and enjoyed except that my wife and I had just returned from eating out and my very full stomach was a bit annoying. 5 miles at 9:22 AP

     9 miles at 8:28 pace. did a few striders the last 2 miles.

     18 mile progression run this morning. My alarm didn't go off this morning and I didn't wake up until almost 6. Got out the door at 6:30 and felt slow. First 4 miles I averaged just under 8:30 pace. Next 2 miles at 8:04 and started feeling good. Miles 7-10 averaged 7:41. Miles 11-14 averaged 7:21. Last 4 averaged 6:54 pace. Nice morning for a run. 47 deg to start and just under 70 to finish. Big temperature range for one run. I saw deer [including a doe with 2 very new fawns], lots of ducks, a pheasant, hungarian partridge, a wild turkey, a blow snake, a run over rattle snake, a lizard, and 0 vehicles [except for one fisherman camped at the reservoir].  I felt pretty good on this run but sure wouldn't have wanted to run another 8 miles and especially can't imagine doing the whole 26 averaging 50 second/mile faster pace than I ran this morning. Seems impossible. Overall pace for 18 was 7:39.

8:25, 8:27, 8:25, 8:30, 8:04, 8:04, 7:48, 7:38, 7:39, 7:40, 7:31, 7:20, 7:17, 7:17, 6:58, 7:07 over big hill, 6:55, 6:37.

PM   Went for 15 miles on the mt bike right before dark. took it easy the first half then hammered pretty good coming back.

     didn't get out until later in the morning again. The temp was already up to 82 deg. I ran 9 miles and started to get a little rain about 4 miles into it. It felt pretty good but only lasted a few miles. Took it pretty easy. 8:49 AP.

     PM   Went out for a ride on my road bike. I'm in a biathlon a week from Saturday so I decided I'd better start riding my road bike. I prefer riding the mt. bike on the dirt roads and trails around here but I figured I had better get used to the different position on the road bike. This is only the 5th ride  I've taken over the past 3 weeks after not riding much all year so with one week to go I don't expect much from my cycling condition. I went 21 miles and the temp was 87 deg. It's not as bad on a bike because you create more wind. Right near the end I was coming up the mile long hill out on the highway that I like to run on. About half way up I decided to really crank and see how high I could get my heart rate. I was able to hit 160. The breeze was at my back so at the 10 or 11 MPH I was going up the hill it felt dead calm. I had a steady stream of sweat dripping off the front of my helmet and my thighs and glutes really burning by the time I topped out. Good stuff.

     About 3 miles into my run yesterday my right calf had a pain hit out of nowhere. I was hoping it would go away as quick as it came but after a couple hundred yards I stopped and stretched and massaged it a bit. It felt a little better so I kept going and just took it easy. It got feeling better so I finished the whole run. I felt it a bit throughout the rest of the day so this morning I figured I'd start my run and see how it felt. I was ready to skip the run all together if I had too but if it didn't get any worse I figured I'd just go 6 or 7 miles. In the beginning it felt about the same as yesterday but after 2 or 3 miles it was feeling a lot better so rather than turn around at 3.5 for a 7 mile run I decided to at least go the rest of the way to the reservoir which is 4 miles. By then the discomfort was pretty minimal. In fact if not for yesterday I may not of thought too much about it. I decided to just go another 1/2 mile to make it a nine mile run. By  the 4.5 turn around I was in need of a bathroom and there is a porta potty in another 1/4 mile so I ran up there and used it. Of course now it's only another 1/4 mile to the 10 mile turn around might as well make it an even 10. Overall pace was 9:03/mile. My ave heart rate was 123 which is about as low as I can remember for a run. Calf pain was nearly gone at the end.

     After yesterday I decided maybe this calf thing was gone. I had to drop my son off in town at 6:00 this morning so I wanted to do a workout at the track. I started my warmup and my calf was sore again. Not bad [maybe 1out of 10]. I decided not to risk running hard and making it worse so decided to just keep it slow again. After 3 miles on the track, I decided I didn't want to run a bunch of slow miles there so I went home and ran another 10. Calf pain was all but gone after a few miles. My hip was just getting better and now this. It seems like it's always something. It's probably not going to be a big deal but I'm planning 2 races next week [10k on Monday and biathlon on Sat] so I figured it wasn't worth the risk of straining it worse with a workout. Overall pace was 8:36.

     10 miles early while it was still nice and cool. Calf pain was minor to start and pretty much gone after about 3 miles. Kept the pace easy until the last mile in 7:08. 

     PM  Around noon I had to go into town so I took my road bike to do a ride on next weeks biathlon bike course. It was about 80 deg by now and sunny. After a 2 mile warm up, I started on the 14 mile course. I was riding hard [about tempo effort]. I messed up the cable too my rear derailleur and it ended up stuck in one gear. I could  so I basically ended up with 2 gears since the smallest gear was so low I only used it for a couple of short steep spots. I wound up pushing too big a gear for most of the ride which didn't help my time but probably gave me a good workout. At the end of the ride I quickly changed into running shoes and ran a mile in 6:17 to try and simulate the transition to running. Most biathlons do the run first but but for some reason they switched it last year. It about killed me to try and run fast after racing on the bike last year and it didn't feel too good today either. I would have never kept that pace for the full 5k and I about puked at the end. I have a hard time even walking after a hard ride. I averaged right at 20 mph on the ride

     Ran another 10 today up past the reservoir. Saw a big golden eagle. He flew out of a tree about 15 yards away made a little loop and then gave me a close fly by. Really cool. My calf seems to be good. Kept the pace easy again. Did some striders the last 2 miles. 8:24 AP.

     Ran 8 miles this morning. Ran it mostly pretty slow until the last 2 miles I did some striders. I surged from 1 telephone pole to the next then ran anywhere from the next 2 to 4 poles easy. 7th mile was 7:09 overall pace and 8th mile was 6:44 overall pace. I did them more frequently the last mile. I was going to count these as MP miles but I ran 2/3 a lot slower and 1/3 a lot faster so I took a guess. This almost seemed easier than running those paces steady. I don't think it would work that way for much longer though. 8:17 AP

     We drove down to Salt Lake yesterday for a family get together. My brother and his family just got in from Austin. We spent the night at my parents house in Sandy. I got up at 4 am so I could be plenty early for the 6 am start. I arrived not quite an hour before and had no problem finding close parking and no lines at the POPs  15 to 20 min later there were huge lines at the POPs and traffic jams of cars looking for parking. It was already 75 degrees. I guess that's not too bad but being used to mornings in the low 50s, 65 would have been a lot nicer. I think there are usually over 2000 in the race and it draws some pretty good competition. It's considered the most competitive road race in Utah. I warmed up for a little over 2 miles and wondered how good of an idea that was after it just made me hot and sweaty waiting for the start. I was just dripping sweat standing in the stagnant air in the big crowd waiting to start. It felt good to get going and get some air moving. I had to start out pretty slow because of a lot of inexperienced looking runners that had lined up very close to the front and started very slow. Once I got through a bunch of them and could get moving I was able to take advantage of  some nice downhill [especially the first 2 miles] and finished mile 1 in 5:54. The downhill continued and mile 2 was 5:45. The 3rd mile starts out with some uphill the first half but a nice gradual downhill second half. 6:02 for mile 3. I found myself trying not to draft off of other runners because it felt so much better to have the breeze in my face. Mile 4 was 5:55. I was starting to feel pretty tired at this point and it was a real struggle not to lose motivation. Mile 5 was 6:05. The last .6 mile is all uphill and the 6th mile and the last .2 is the only net uphill section of the race. That last stretch seemed like it would never end but I was passing quite a few runners. Mile 6 was 6:19 and the last .21 [on Garmin] was 1:09 [5:26 pace]. Finish time was 37:12. Overall pace was 5:59. I was hoping to break into top 3 in my age group and I ended up 2nd. Last time I ran this race was 2 years ago and my time was 38:16 a PR by over a minute so I felt pretty good about the result.

     Went for 25 miles on my road bike this morning.

      Played basketball for a couple of hours in the evening.

     I ran 8 miles in the morning at 8:34 pace. I felt pretty beat still from the race Monday. My quads were pretty sore from the downhill. The muscles up the outside edge of my shin were sore along with several other spots. I guess I hadn't really trained very well for that 10k with no tempo runs lately and only 2 miles downhill training 2 weeks ago. 

     My brother and his family from Austin have been staying with us for a couple of days and we went up to float a section of the Bear river on tubes. On the first trip down my tube got torn open on a rock with about a mile to go so I ran the rest of the way down the gravel road in my Vibram Five Fingers and got another mile in for the day.  We made another trip down and I hit my butt quite hard on a rock that was just under the surface in the middle of a rapid. It has been pretty painful. It wasn't my day.

      My butt is worse today where I hit it yesterday just between the tailbone and my belt. Certain motions really hurt. I decided to skip my run today and see if I can get better recovered for my biathlon on Saturday. I don't know if 4 days is going to be enough time to recovery fully from Des News Monday. I plan on taking tomorrow pretty easy too. Hopefully my sore butt will get feeling better by then too.

     My butt is feeling a bit better today. It was a little sore running but didn't seem to affect my running. I think I'm still feeling a bit of fatigue from Monday so I kept it short and ran 2x1/4 miles in 80 seconds each and a few striders just to get the legs moving. 3.25 miles @7:39/mile.

     The Preston Biathlon is the biggest race here in town each year at least competition wise. It's our big weekend here in town with  " The Famous Preston Night Rodeo" . They lay claim to being the first night rodeo ever held. There are parades and carnival and all kinds of events all weekend. The race draws in a good number of people from out of town. Last year they said they had 160 participate including teams and this year it seemed as big or bigger. I really wanted to do well here but wasn't sure what to expect since I normally ride my bike year round but only started riding 3 weeks ago twice a week and it didn't help that I ran a 10K on Monday. OK enough of my excuses.  There were a lot of people I didn't recognize and a lot of nice looking bikes and fast looking people. Some of these guys are better bikers and you just have to hope that they are slow enough runners and there are better runners you hope don't bike much.I just did a 1 mile warmup and just running 8 min pace felt hard but I've had races before where I felt lousy during the warmup and still had a good result. I just hoped it would be one of those. The race has a 5K run followed by a 14.5 [closer to 14] mile bike ride both on out and back courses. Last year they did the bike first and I was very glad they went back to the run first.

     The race started and I had about 15 people running ahead of me the first 1/4 mile and we were at about 5:50 pace.  I passed a few and still had about 10 ahead of me at 1/2 mile and the pace was still a bit under 6 min which was about what I had hoped to run the whole 5K I thought I could manage that without going all out and still have something left for the bike. I passed a few more the next 1/2 mile but I was slowing badly. First mile I finished in 6:14. Ouch. There was just no pop in the legs. 2nd mile was 6:16 and by then I just had 3 runners ahead of me but they were all way ahead. I didn't want to pick up the pace much and just cruise in so I wouldn't be too spent when I got on the bike. 3rd mile was 6:11 and without intending to I picked it up to about 5:20 pace for the last .1. Finished the 5K in 19:08. I was obviously still feeling it from the 10K this week. Normally when I run 5ks on consecutive weekends, I usually recover and run the second one better but I guess a 10k with 4 recovery days isn't quite the same especially as I get older.

     I was in transition about 52 seconds then I was off on the bike. After a slow start because of a couple of hairpin turns then a left turn onto a road with some traffic I had to slow for, I got settled in and focused on the guy in red who had finished the run about a minute ahead of me. The last race I saw this guy at he won the mile in 4:40 something so I was actually surprised I had finished the run even that close behind but before the race I had seen that he had a nice bike and equipment so I figured he must do a lot of riding and I doubted I would be able to make up what appeared to be a 1/2 mile lead he had on me. The next 2 guys were way up on him. After 4 or 5 miles I didn't feel like I had made up any ground on him but at least I seemed to be opening a bigger gap on the guys behind me. This course is always either climbing or dropping with 3 or 4 short hills that are pretty steep. At the halfway point it was the first time I felt like I had actually gained slightly on him and from that point the next 3 1/2 miles are a steady climb. As the climb went on I could tell that I was actually gaining and the more it went on I was gaining fast. I made it my goal to catch him before the downhill started and I just passed him just before the highest point. There was still some uphill after this but it was mostly gradual downhill or flat to the finish. I expended a lot of energy to hopefully leave him behind quickly but he fell right in behind and started drafting which isn't allowed. He sat on my wheel for  a while then I let him pass. I rode along behind him 4 bike lengths back [as required] for a while and he slowed slower than I wanted to go so I tried to make a fast break to loose him but he got on me drafting again. I knew I had more left in the tank than he did but not if I had to do this a lot longer. After pulling him along for a while doing all the work I backed up and told him the rule. He hadn't herd it mentioned and I hadn't this year either but it had been the rule in the past years and at every other biathlon I have done. To his credit when I took off again he kept the right distance and I was able to pull away and build 17 seconds over the final 2 miles. I was really hoping the other 2 guys that finished ahead of me were both in the team category but one was an individual rider so I ended up 2nd overall. I finished the bike in 37:44 [22.2 MPH average] and my overall time was 57:46.

     Last year I did the bike in 36:03 [23.3 MPH]. I was in much better bike shape and the bike was first so I was fresher but I had a horrible time trying to run the 5K off of the bike after that and was 20:52 on the run so I beat last years overall time. Had I trained good on the bike and not run the 10K Monday, I probably still wouldn't have beat the 1st place finisher from Logan who came in almost 2 minutes ahead of me but it could have been a lot closer. I'm pretty happy though with a PR and second overall especially under the circumstances. Fun to do well in the hometown.

     PM  My wife and I went for a 5 mile bike ride in the evening. After that I went another 10.

     It rained a lot of the night and through the first half of the day. I just about went out in it but decided to wait and run in the afternoon. I went out around 3 o'clock and now it was 77 deg and with the sun burning down on all the wet alfalfa and cornfields I run past, it was very humid. I was kind of wondering why I had picked this over the downpour this morning. I ran 10 miles and actually felt like I had better energy than I did before Saturdays race. Kept the pace fairly easy. 8:13 AP

     I was looking back at my bike training over the last 3 weeks to get ready for the biathlon. I thought it was interesting that after doing my first 2 rides easy, the first ride that I pushed the pace hard my heart rate only averaged 137. On another ride 5 days later I pushed the pace as hard as I could going up a long hill and was able to get my HR to 160 but only for a few seconds and I was about ready to puke. The next week I did a hard ride on the actual biathlon course and was able to average 148 HR. 8 days later at the race I averaged 162 for the whole bike portion and was up to 170 on a couple of the hills. My speed was much faster with the higher HRs. I was kind of amazed at how fast the progression was. I wish I would have started earlier. Another 2 or 3 weeks probably really could have helped. There's always next year.

      Ran another 10 this morning but got it done early while it was nice and cool. I felt good on this run and was tempted to pick up the pace but after 2 races last week I think I'll keep all of my miles somewhat easy this week. 8:12 AP

     Ran 10 miles this morning. My back was a little tight and sore to start. I ran the first couple of miles around 9 min pace. Things loosened up and felt better after that. 8:25 AP

     Another 10 miles up around the reservoir this morning. My hip was a bit sore on Monday probably from the 2 races last week so I haven't done any faster running this week. Hip seems to be doing good. 8:12 AP

     An easy 7 miles this morning planning on 20 tomorrow. 8:41 AP

     This morning at 5:30 when I should have been starting my 20 mile run, my son and I headed out to scout for deer. It was a nice 49 degrees. By the time we got back and I got out it was around 8:30. It was still nice [about 64 deg] when I started but with the sun getting up high and no clouds it quickly felt much warmer. I have a water stash 6 miles out. I wasn't that thirsty on the way out but on the way back [at 14 miles] I was very ready for a drink and looking forward to it for a couple of miles before I got to it. I ran the first 4 miles at 8:04 ave, the next 3 at 7:46, next 5 [8-12] at 7:33 pace, next 6 [13-18] at 7:24 pace, last 2 at 6:55 and 6:43. I ran up past the reservoir and on out the canal. On Saturday mornings there are often people camped at the reservoir and I like the smell of campfires and cooking breakfast lingering in the trees as I run through. Most of the canal has a nice 2 track along it that stays beat down enough from the  water master driving it, which makes it nice to run on, but there is a 2 1/2 mile section that doesn't seem to have had any traffic on it yet this year. It has a lot of grass from knee to belly height covering the old 2 track that makes the running tough. I have to be careful not to roll an ankle. The temp was 73 when I finished but I would have guessed it was 80. It always feels warmer when the direct sun is that high. Last 2 marathon pace miles felt hard. Hard to imagine keeping that pace for 26 but overall it was a good run. Overall pace for 20 was 7:34.

     10 miles on reservoir road. Kept the pace easy. 8:46 AP

     Another 10 miles up past the reservoir this morning. I was thinking about doing a short tempo during part of the run but my legs were feeling slow so I just kept the pace easy again. I might still not be 100% recovered from last Saturday. Recovery seems to come slower as I get older. Did 5 or 6 strides of 15 to 20 seconds each during the last 2 miles. 8:28 AP overall.

     7 miles 8:48 pace.

     Went overt to Weston canyon this morning to get in some up and down hill running. I parked at the reservoir 3 miles up the canyon and ran 2 miles warmup at 8:07 pace. Then I ran the 3 miles down the canyon at 6:38 ave pace. Got a drink of water then ran the 3 back up at 7:43 pace. Then 3 back down at 6:22 pace. I actually felt better the last time down. my back was feeling a bit tight and it just took a few miles to get loosened up. Yesterday I had to dig up a 10" irrigation mainline to make a repair. The backhoe does most of the work but there is still a lot of manual digging in wet heavy clay mud that sticks to your shovel. I think that is where the back soreness came from but it feels ok now. I ran another 2 cool down miles 1 up the canyon and 1 back down to make 13 total. Then I rode my bike [that I had stashed] the 3 miles back to the top. The canyon climbs about 350 feet in those 3 miles so not too steep but a nice grade. I had a coyote run across in front of me and saw a few deer and a couple of blow snakes. Nice cool morning but it did get a little warm at the end when most of the shade was gone. Pace for the 9 mile workout was 6:54. Overall pace for all 13 was 7:15.

     The temp was 43 deg this morning when I went out to move pipe. We keep the windows open at night and it was 53 deg in the house. My back was a little sore while I was out moving wheel lines and I was going to take some ibuprofen before my run but after eating breakfast it felt a little better so I went without. I ran 10 miles at a nice slow recovery pace. I could definitely feel yesterdays workout in my legs but as long as I kept it slow it wasn't too bad. I don't usually watch my heart rate while I'm running and try to keep it in different zones but today I tried to keep it under 130. Overall pace was 8:52/mile. Heart rate 128 ave.

     Spent last night at my parents house in Sandy. Did a 10 mile run in the morning out 13th east to the park in Draper where the Draper days 5k starts. It was exactly 5 miles to the restroom and drinking fountain in the park. I made use of each and then back. I was surprised how many runners and bikers where out. I'm not used to seeing anybody on my runs.

     In the afternoon my wife and I took my brother from Texas over to watch the 4th stage of the tour of Utah. It's called the toughest stage race in the United States. It has a lot of the top racers in the world with quite a few of them fresh off the Tour De France. My brother is now in a wheelchair with MS. When he was 20 he was on the 7/11 cycling team that was the first US team to ride in the Tour De France. He and his team mate Frankie Andreu were the only 2 on the team that didn't get to go to France because they were the newest additions to the team. My brother [after being one of the top 2 junior cyclists in the country] was diagnosed with MS about that time and left the team to serve a 2 year mission. After returning he was not able to train at the same level and was not able to get back on the team. Frankie went on to ride in the tour many times including on all of Lance Armstrongs winning teams. Lance came to the same 7/11 team just after my brother was gone and just before it became the Motorolla team. It was awsome to watch and I enjoyed getting my brothers perspective on what was going on. 

     It was an 11 lap race through the streets of salt lake on a 7 1/2 mile loop so we got to see them about every 16 or 17 minutes. We spent the first half watching from Capitol circle where they were coming downhill at 40 MPH and making a right then quick left turn without slowing a bit. It gave me chills the first time they came by so fast. The support vehicles had tires skidding and squealing around the corners to keep up. It was quite a production with dozens of lead cars and support vehichles and dozens of motorcycles and a helicopter filming the lead group. About halfway through we went over to the finish line by the capitol and saw the last few laps and finish from there. It was awesome.

     Didn't have time to run in the morning before it got hot so I was planning to run late after it cooled a bit. I got busy trying to change a CV joint axel in my jeep cherokee. It was being a real pain and nothing was going right and it ended up taking me until after dark to get finished. Then I had to move pipe in the dark. When I started moving pipe I got a weird pain in my hip and back out of nowhere. It was the same hip that bothers me sometimes but total different pain. It seamed like it came from some of the awkward positions I was trying to pull and pry from while working on the jeep. Decided I better forget the run.

     My back and hip pain woke me up a lot during the night and was more sore this morning than last night. I had a hard time even putting on my hip boots to go out and move pipe. I took 4 ibuprofen and it helped but didn't go away completely. Just after noon, I went for a 20 mile ride on my mountain bike. I rode pretty hard and averaged 16 MPH which is pretty good for me on this course which is mostly dirt with several big hills. A couple of them are steep enough on dirt to slow you to a crawl in a very low gear. It was feeling a bit better this evening and I ran probably 1/2 mile while moving water lines. I'll try running tomorrow and see how it goes.

     I took some more ibuprofen before going to bed last night and my hip/back felt normal this morning. I was wanting to get in a 20 miler the first part of the week but wasn't sure how my back would do so I ran 10 miles up past the reservoir. I felt great when I got home so I ate a banana and got a big drink and headed back out for the same 10 mile run again. I kept the pace easy and felt better than normal for the end of a 20 miler. It probably had something to do with the fact that my pace was 45 sec/mile slower than the last 20 I did 1 1/2 weeks ago. My back and hip felt great on the run and still feel good now. 20 miles at 8:18 AP

     My back was slightly sore this morning but not bad and my hip felt fine. I think the hip pain yesterday was coming from my back problem. However if it's not one thing it's another. Last night out moving water lines I had to do more walking than normal and I started to get some soreness in my lower shin on the outer side. It wasn't as sore this morning while moving pipe but still not good. I started a run afterward but after 100 yds decided I better not risk making it worse. I don't think it's anything that's going to be to big of a problem but didn't want to risk making it worse. We just got the 2nd crop of hay in and we haven't had any rain lately so there's a lot of irrigating to do right now and it's not the best thing for recovery.

     Since I couldn't run for the 3rd day this week, I got on my mountain bike and went 30.3 miles. This route is 1/2 pavement and 1/2 dirt with about 1000 ft of climbing in the first half. It took just under 2 hours. I might try running a few miles tonight if I can. 

     I think I have tendonitis in the tendon that runs up my shin about 5 inches above my foot. It got quite sore again last night moving pipe. The motion of pulling my foot up hurts and there is a bump from the swelling there. I'm a little worries now because I had something similar happen to my wrist and it took weeks to heal. The only thing that seems to cure tendonitis is not using the tendon. It isn't that bad just walking normal but when I'm out moving pipe it aggravates it more I think because I'm walking faster and there is more resistance as I bring my foot forward through the alfalfa. I tried to be much more careful this morning out in the field and it didn't seem to be quite as bad. I'm heading for southern Utah for a few days to go bowhunting so at least I'll get a break from the pipe moving. Hopefully I'll be able to hike ok and maybe get in some running.

     Opening morning of the bow hunt in Southern Utah. I was worried about whether I would be able to hike without aggravating the sore tendon in my leg but after resting it yesterday and lots of ibuprofen the swelling was gone and there was no pain at all. I did about 3 hours of hiking and never felt a thing from it. Got the opportunity to stalk in close to a really nice buck but wasn't quite able to get close enough. 

     I always do some afternoon runs while  I'm down on these hunts and this year I just found out that a long time friend and hunting buddy had just taken up running. He just ran his first race [a half marathon] a couple of weeks ago. He ran a 1:49 off of only 6 weeks training at age 56  and is already signed up for another in 3 weeks. If he keeps with it he'll be kicking some but in that 55-59 age group. So it was nice to have somebody to run with. We both wanted to get in some downhill so we drove up to the pass above camp at just over 9300 ft elevation and ran just under 7 1/2 miles dropping 1800 feet to 7500 feet where we left a vehicle. I wanted a few more miles so I ran another 3 1/2 back up to camp gaining back another 700 ft. Pace going down averaged 8:04. Back up averaged 8:11. I felt good after until that evening when I was out hunting it was killing my quads to go down something steep. I guess I better get some more downhill in before St George to get the legs conditioned for that.

     I did a 5 mile run from camp today on the same dirt road as yesterdays run. Some parts of the road are pretty rocky. Started out going up the canyon easy. When I turned to go back downhill I could still feel the effects of yesterdays run in my quads. Run had just under 500 ft elevation gain and loss. Today I was around 9:30 pace on the uphill and around 8:15 on the downhill. Overall pace was 8:52.

     Came close this morning to getting in on some nice bucks but didn't quite get a shot. I headed home in the afternoon and didn't get home until late. Didn't get in any running.

     10 miles at 8:27 AP