Chad's Runs

This is my third week of crappy miles.  Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday I was sick and Wednesday I spent taking down Christmas lights so today was my first run of the week.  I could tell I haven't been putting in regular miles.  I shouldn't feel this tired after an 8 mile run.

I'm running shorter distances for a while until my ankles feel better.  I was encouraged the first 2 miles but then the right one started to hurt again.  Crap.  I walked for a bit each 1/2 mile or so after that hoping that I'll recover sooner.  I'm going to try again tomorrow.

Took it easy.  My ankles have been sore for several days after any kind of run.  Then on the next run with no pain in my ankles at all, that only lasts for about 2 miles and process starts all over again.  So today I took it extra easy.  I walked occasionally and I focused on a relaxed and flat foot strike.  Then afterwards I stretched and iced.  I think it worked.  I'm not sore at all now.  I felt it acting up a little at the end of each run segment but the walk cooled things down.  I'll wait to see how it feels tomorrow.  I want to get over this and move on.

Did another run walk thing.  My ankles felt pretty good.  I iced them afterward and they felt pretty good.  They actually felt good the rest of the day.  I'm entering this on Sunday and they don't feel as good this morning.  I took some ibuprofin and iced them again.  I hope they are a little better tomorrow because I want to run, 16 miles this week if I can manage it.

I wanted to go 6 but my right ankle was hurting more than I wanted so I erred on the side of caution and went 4.5.  My left one didn't hurt at all so that is great progress.  I'll find out tomorrow how much better it is.

I should have run yesterday but I couldn't find the motivation.  Crap, I've got to get with it. 

No running today.  My ankles do feel better today than the day after previous runs so that is encouraging.  I'll be back at it tomorrow.  So #3 just turned 8 a few months ago and has his first pinewood derby today.  Check out this cool car we built.

6 miles on the JRP.  I ran south this time into Saratoga Springs.  I haven't run that far south for a while and I forgot what great views of the lake there are.  I really enjoyed it.  Down in Saratoga Springs I heard a bunch of geese.  They were loud!  As I got closer to the sound the sky turned black.  There was one, maybe two thousand GEESE.  There is a big field north of the neighborhood I was running in.  They must have been there when something scared them.

As for my ankles?  They didn't feel as good as they did on Tuesday.  Crap.

I love running in the rain.  I wanted to run 7.5 but thought my ankles would keep me at 6.  I ran south again into Saratoga Springs and was really enjoying the run.  My ankles felt good so I ran past the 3 mile turn around then ran past the 3.75 turn around and finally turned around at 4.5.  There were beautiful views of the stormy lake and lakeside houses.  There is even a little gravel trail right down next to the lake that I didn't know was there.  There wasn't quite enough gravel to keep all the mud away but it wasn't too bad.  So I turned around at 4.5 and took roads next to the lake view "mansions" on the way back.  This added the about an extra half mile.  My ankles didn't bother me at all after about 2.5-3 miles.  That was very encouraging, but I was still adding in a one minute walk break out of every seven.  I'm going to keep doing that until the day after improves.  I'm always sore the next day and I hope these extra miles don't set me back.  I haven't been bringing my GPS.  I want to run what feels good, so the miles are actually estimates based on the time I'm running.  It's probably pretty close.

4.5 in the snow.  It's hard to see with snow flying in you're eyes.  The JRP wasn't slick and there wasn't anyone on it.  I was actually able to just close my eyes part of the time.  That sounds really weird but it worked when running into the wind.  I'm making it sound worse than it was.  It wasn't all that cold and I didn't get very wet.  As for my ankles, they didn't feel as good as they have the last few runs.  It was a little discouraging.

Two days in a row.  Sweet.  Things felt better than yesterday but that might have to with the ibuprofen I took before this run.  I haven't run two consecutive days for quite a while and I'm not much more sore than with an extra day's rest.  I am still walking a minute every mile or so and that is frustrating but I can tell it helps giving my ankle some rest periodically.  I may try cutting down on some of the walks next week depending on how I feel.

I ran down into Saratoga Springs again and the sun setting in the west lit up Timpanogos in the east with a bright pink color.  It was quite a sight looking at it across the lake.  I'm glad the days are getting longer.  The sun would have already been down for this run a month ago.  Still the sun was set for the second half of this run and all the wet spots on the trail froze.  I had to slow down and tread lightly here and there.

Stretched the run time between walks by a minute which added a mile to my run.  I was really pleased with how my ankles felt for the first three quarters but for the last mile or two they got tired.  Not sore necessarily, but tired-sore.  It was good and wet again but not cold.  I'm going to run 10 or so on Saturday which will get me to 27-28 miles for the week.  That is the most I've had for more than a month.  Sad.

Wonderful run. Sometimes you just feel like you can run forever.  I felt no pain in my ankles for most of this run, they only got tired toward the end.  I didn't get out until 9:30pm.  I usually just blow it off by then but this time I talked myself into getting out.  The temperature was in the low 20s but I never felt cold.  I even had to take my gloves off for a good portion of this run.  I ran south again on the JRP and then down into Saratoga Springs.  Saw some great views of the lights on the east side of Utah Lake reflecting off of the lake.  I also enjoy running by all those sweet cribs that border and lake and look out over it.  I wonder how much farther I'd have to run before I run into the golf course.  Oh yeah, I so some deer, one of which was a huge 5 or 6 point buck.  They weren't afraid of me, they just stepped a little further off the road and watched me run by.  Cool.

I haven't been out for a 5am run for a couple of months.  I have been working some on the weekends because my afternoon runs cut into my work hours so I'm going to try and get in some early runs.  It takes a while to get warmed up on these early runs and my ankles were sore from the 10 miles I ran on Saturday night.  Not a big deal, I expected it.  I think they will start feeling better by the end of the week again.

I think one of the big reasons I am having these ankle issues is because of bad form when I first tried the Altras.  I was focusing on a strong push off on the middle of the ball of my foot.  I am mostly a neutral runner but sometimes I over pronate a little.  So I was doing a little research on the POSE method and learned that it is more than posture/mid-foot strike.  Momentum comes for leaning forward, not from pushing off.  From what I gathered, the leg should be "pulled" forward with no push off.  I was just putting a lot of stress on the bottom of my tibia and those tendons that run right behind the ankle keeping my foot tight and pushing off.  This pull instead of push will keep my foot relaxed instead of tight.  I hope I understand all this form stuff a little better and it helps me heal and reduce future injuries.  I don't have any experience with this stuff so maybe I'm up in the night but I'm going to try run this way for a while and see if it helps endurance/speed/injuries/etc.

6 at 5am.  I forgot my headlamp.  I run on the JRP with out it all the time because there are no cars to shine at.  Running in the dark doesn't bother me.  But today I ran into Saratoga Springs again.  I only saw one car out and about so no big deal.

Ankle felt great today, almost no discomfort at all.  Will it feel this good during tomorrows run?  Probably not, but baby steps right? 

Early 5am run this morning.  The air was as calm as could be, low 20s, it was beautiful. That's 3 5am runs this week, weird.  I plan on a 6am run tomorrow so all will be early.  Its easier to get them in that way.

My ankles talked to me throughout this run.  They weren't painful, just making their presence known.  There are benefits there, it helps remind me to pay attention to my form and relax. 

12 miles this morning.  Good weather, I was never cold.  It's sometimes fun to run during the sunrise but it sucks getting up.  I took it nice and slow because my ankles were sore.  That's 19 miles in two days and they were feeling it.  I'm hoping a Sunday rest will get them back to full strength by Monday.

Nice run this morning.  There was almost no discomfort in my ankle so that was good.  After Saturdays run and most of Sunday my ankle was aching but a day's rest fixed things.  It's getting better.  

I got up and got out, but I didn't want to.  I wanted to do 7 but didn't have time.  I had to get back by 6:00 to get the kids up so they wouldn't be late for school.  So I was going to run 6 but the combination of not wanting to be out there and a sore ankle  convinced me to cut it another mile short.  I wanted to run 34 miles this week and now it might be hard to do that.

I used to hate these Mizuno Elixers but now they are my favorites.  Is that weird?  They gave me blisters but now I have callouses so that isn't a problem.  As the shoe got older my right foot started to slide to the left, threatening to fall off the sole.  I tightened laces a little near the bottom and this problem was fixed.  I've also been working on my form so that has helped with that problem.  So now this shoe has almost 800 miles on it and it's still going strong.  I guess it took a few miles to get it broken in.

I haven't run this many miles on a weekday non-long-run in a while.  It felt good.  My ankle felt good as well, almost no pain.  When I have a full day's rest in between runs it has a chance to really recover.  I need it to start recovering faster so it isn't rough running on consecutive days.  I need to bump my running days up to 5 per week in preparation for Utah Valley.  This 9 makes up for my wimpy 5 on Tuesday.  I'll run 14 on Saturday and get in my scheduled 34 miles.

14 miles with my neighbor Richard.  I haven't ran that many for a while and it kicked my butt.  My ankle did alright.  It's sore now but I expected that.  I am waiting to see how it feels tomorrow.  I haven't ran hard or fast now for more than a month and its getting old.  When am I going to be healed up?  I have a feeling that I'm going to be slow at Utah Valley.

 I forget to mention that I'm happy with my miles.  34, yeah!!  They were slow and careful but I am building them back up a little at a time. 

Good early 5am 7 mile run.  It was warm enough for the wet roads not to freeze and turn to black ice.  Although, I saw someone scraping their windshield.  Why would a windshield ice over but not the ground?  The thermometer read 34 at my house.  I don't understand that.  Where was I?  Oh yeah, I started with a 2 mile warm up going south on the JRP.  I ran into a skunk so I had to turn around and run north.  I finished those 2 miles back at the house and changed into my Altras.  I haven't ran in these for quite a while but I'm determined to make them work.  I want my feet and lower legs to be strong enough to handle them.  So I ran a half mile then walked for a minute then ran back.  It felt all right, not any worse than my other shoes.  I changed back to the first pair back at the house and finished up with 4 miles for a total of 7.  I'll try adding just a half mile a week in those shoes and see how they go.

8 miles at 5am south on the JRP into Saratoga Springs and back.  It started snowing just I after I started.  It wasn't enough to even wet the road for most of the run, just enough to tickle the eye lashes.  By the end of the run there started to be a little accumulation but not enough to make things slick.  My ankles felt pretty good during the run but are aching now.  I hope they feel good tomorrow because I've got another 7 scheduled for the morning.  It's mostly just my right ankle now and it seems to be taking less time to get better.  This healing process is excruciatingly slow but it is happening.

I thought this might be the first time this year that I've needed to shovel the driveway but no.  No one likes to shovel a driveway but this weird weather is a little concerning.  It is not normal.  (great for running though) 

Crap, I accidentally entered this on Thursday.  Now I've got it right.

7 miles on various streets through south west Lehi.  I started off on the JRP but it was a little slick with black ice here and there and I thought the streets might be a bit dryer.  I was right, the footing was much better there.  I tried wrapping my ankle as Smooth suggested.  It was less sore than I thought it would be the day after an 8 miler.  That might have been because of the wrap, thanks Smooth.

15 miles of the JRP.  I wanted to get an early start so I ran 5 starting a little after 6am.  After a few of those I ran into Richard, my neighbor.  I ran all 14 of last weeks long run with Richard and he ran me into the ground.  Anyway, I invited him to join me for 10 with RAD and Toby at 7:30.  So we headed back to my house to finish those five and drive up to the meeting place.  Up at the bridge Toby wanted to run north.  Rachael gave a nice eye roll to that but we went on anyway.  The trail for a half mile is still messed up but passable.  Once we got to the north end of the golf course the trail crosses the river and starts to climb up the point of the mountain.  The climb is significant and was the source of Rachael's eye roll, she has run enough inclines lately.  We turned around to finish 10 for that section, 15 over all.

Thanks everyone for letting me tag along.  These runs a so much better with good company. 

9 easy miles in the afternoon.  I put 2 in my Altras in the middle of these 9.  I really like 'em but I did start to feel some soreness in my ankles toward the end of the 2 miles.  Maybe I'll put another 2 on them later in the week.  As for my ankles overall there wasn't much soreness for the rest of the run.  I keep saying ankles but my right one seems to be healed completely.  When I have a day off between runs all is good.  I'm going to run Wednesday and Thursday so I'll be curious to see how I feel during Thursday's run.  I think I'll notice an improvement over previous consecutive day runs so I'll probably add a 5th run each week here in the next month.

No running today.  I didn't get to bed until late so I chose sleep instead of run.  I won't be able to get one in later today either.  It's just too busy.  So why was up late?  Mario Kart Wii.  I'm embarrassed.

I finally got in another run this week.  I already talked about Wednesday's missed run in a previous post.  Yesterday I just lost my resolve when looking outside at 4:45am and seeing the wind howling.  It turned beautiful later in the day but I just didn't have any time to do it.  So today I decided that since I've had plenty of rest I'd put a few extra miles on the end of my planned long run.  It went well, no bonk.  My feet and legs are wiped out but my ankle is fine.  It will probably hurt going down stairs for another day but it is definitely getting better.  I haven't run that far since the 2010 Top of Utah.

I ran 6 north of my house on the JRP and 12 down south into Saratoga Springs.  I can't just run direction out and back because each path dead-ends before 9 miles from my house.  It was cold this morning.  I started at about 6am and my hands didn't warm up until about mile 8 or 9.  Once the sun came up things warmed up.  I took a Hammer Gel at 10 and 14 which really helped me bring it home.  My legs were pretty tired by I had energy and I finished strong.  It was a fun run. 

Good run this morning.  I put 3 slow miles in the Altras this morning.  I can tell that I shouldn't be putting in big consecutive miles in them.  I can feel my ankle starting to ache a little while in them.  The good news is that it only lasts during the run.  I'll put 3 more in them on Wednesday.

I made it out the door by 4:45 so I had time for an 8th mile.  I initially planned on running 7 so I switched shoes at mile 4 so I'd run the last three in my Altras.  I had enough time so I ran 4 in them instead of the planned 3.  All went well.  I'm still taking it super easy in those shoes by walking for a minute out of every 6.  The whole run was uneventful actually, I didn't see a soul all morning.

I missed my Thursday run ... Again.  It was a late night on Wednesday, I was up till past 12 getting the internet and wireless working.  A power flicker knocked it out, both the cable and the router.  I was on the phone with both Comcast and Belkin to get them fixed and it took 3 hours to do it.  What a pain.  So I was only going to run 16 or 17 today but since I missed Thursday I decided to make this one a little longer.  For a change of scenery I decided to go check out the unfinished murdock canal trail.  I ran up Center Street in Lehi and got there at about mile 7.  It was snowy and slick in places.  I had to be careful with my footing.  It was pretty early so I didn't see anyone else there.  There weren't even any foot prints.  I know its not done but I would have expected people to run on it anyway.  Well, I headed east and ran into the big wash.  The trail/utility road ran down in switchbacks and was pretty rough.  I picked my way cross country through debris until I reached a little creek at the bottom.  I crossed it on a little board being used as a bridge.  The way back up was even worse but I didn't want to turn around so I picked my way back up the other side and kept going.  After 10 miles got off the train to head back home.  I didn't want to return on the trail.  The return trip was a little shorter so I ended up with 19 instead of 20.  By the end I was glad it was only 19.  I was ready to be done.

I have a hard time retiring shoes.  They're so dang expensive I want to get more than 500 miles out of them.  That being said, I hate these shoes.  Their bricks on me feet.  My problem with retiring them is that they have always been like that.  I can probably put more on them to get my money's worth but they suck.  I'm torn.

My legs are still a bit tired from Saturday.  I went pretty slow but not because I was relaxing.  I should have brought my head lamp.  There is often enough light even when there is no moon because clouds will glow from the lights of the surrounding cities.  But this morning was clear and with about 2 miles left I stepped in a hole and rolled my ankle and went down.  I got up and was able to limp it off and start running a little later.  There was no pain when I finished this run but now, an hour later, it's aching a little.  I hope it doesn't linger.  I was just starting to get in some miles.  I don't need this.

It was beautiful at 5am this morning.  I tried to run but gave up.  I thought maybe running would get my twisted foot warmed up but it just hurt worse the longer I ran.  I tried 3 or 4 different times with walks in between before giving up.  Bummer.  I don't think it is all that serious, it just may take some time.  I'm going to rest tomorrow and look at how things go on Thursday.

7 slow miles in the Altras.  This is the longest run in them since my ankle problems and my ankle felt great this time.  The other one that I turned on Monday was also fine, seems completely healed actually.  It's time to start running faster with more effort.  I've been running slow and easy now for a while because of my injuries that I've gotten slow.

I just didn't have it.  I was going to run 7 or 8 but it just wasn't there.  Legs were heave, ankle was aching (not Monday's twisted ankle), and I couldn't even run a 10 minute mile.  So at two miles I turned around to cut my run short and save some energy for tomorrow.  The last mile I actually started to feel good and could have run farther, but I was already home.  Oh well.

7 early miles on the JRP and into Saratoga Springs.  Solid effort, crappy results.  I missed a run on Saturday and you would think that some extra rest would help make this one strong and fast.  Not the case.

Anyway, Saturday and set my alarm wrong and woke up without enough time to get a run in.  My wife was out of town and the day was spent on my son's eagle project.  He is building some shelves to hold band instruments in the Willowcreek band room.  We got the shelves built and now just have to install them in a week or so.  I'm glad that is wrapping up.

Anyway again, with my wife and her sister out of town my brother-in-law and his kids came over later and we had a great time, but it left no time for a run.  With the injury early in the week and the missed Saturday run, last week's total was a measly 18 miles.  That sucks rocks.  This week will be better.  40+ 

(1 hour later) ... How could I forget to mention that daylight-savings time sucks?  Its a worthless tradition that nobody likes.  Just when there was a hint of light at the end my runs the government takes it away.

7 more sluggish miles.  9:47 average pace.  The double red cell blood donation has really messed me up but I got through it.

Couldn't run this morning so I ran this afternoon.  Awesome weather!  Maybe a little too hot.  I missed yesterday because when I went to put in my contacts at 4:45am and I dropped it.  I just went to the eye doctor a few weeks ago to get setup with new sets and they hadn't come in yet, so I went back to bed because running in my glasses was out of the question.  So with my 6am commitment this morning I thought I might have to miss 2 days.  Well, not so, I got out this afternoon and since I missed yesterday and it was so nice I thought I would add a couple more miles onto my usual 7-8.  A 10 miler should not be this hard.  I ran at about a 9 pace and it wiped me out.  Is the blood donation still giving me problems?  Also after the run I felt sick the rest of the night.  Not so much immediately afterward but later.  I wanted to through-up.  So the question is, did my strenuous run make me sick, or was I already sick and the run just magnified it.  I've been whining a lot lately.

7 miles at 5am.  It was really quite nice this morning.  The roads were mostly wet.  I decided to avoid the JRP in favor of the roads.  I figure that the JRP was more likely to be slick and iced over.  I felt better this morning that I've felt in a while.  I had enough in me to push it on the last mile.  3 months ago I would have run a 7:30 with that effort.  This morning I barely made it under 8:00.  My speed is gone and with only 2 months of real training before Utah Valley I only have time to build stamina so I won't be fast.  Oh well.

As for last week, I got in 24 miserable miles.  I decided to take Friday off because of how bad I felt after Thursday's 10.  Then my wife made me promise not to run on Saturday.  She said I needed to rest and I didn't push back too hard.  So I was 16 miles short of the 40+ I wanted to do.  Crap.  I've got to do better this week.  I hope I have built up enough red blood cells to get me through 45 or so miles this week.

7 miles nice and slow on 700 south.  It was slick out this morning which is the main reason why I slowed it down.  Yesterday the nights snow left the road wet.  Last nights snow left the road icy.  No spills though.  I ordered a RoadID this morning.  I've been meaning to for a while but never got around to it.  The slick roads reminded me that it might be a good idea.

8 miles on the JRP and down into Saratoga Springs.  The weather was nice, I didn't even bring a hat or gloves.  It was also cloudy enough to not need my headlamp.  I hate that thing and when it is cloudy, even without a moon there is enough light from the glow of the clouds that I don't need the light.

7 more.  No excuses or crazy crap getting in the way of runs this week.  It feels good but my body does need tomorrows day off.  I'm not used to running 4 days strait.  Yesterday was warm so I wore shorts this morning.  It turned out to be pretty cold.  I was fine in shorts but I did need gloves and a hat.

I don't know how many I will run Saturday. Its been three weeks since I ran 19 but I don't feel like I could run that many now.  I guess it depends on if I find someone to run with.

Finally, an encouraging run.  18 mile solo run Saturday morning.  I took it nice and easy for first half, about 10 minutes miles or so.  In ran north on the JRP, then through the Thanksgiving point area.  I was going to cut across I15 at the Thanksgiving Point / Cabelas interchange but there are no sidewalks.  Weird.  Apparently pedestrians aren't allowed there.  So I continued to head north on the frontage road.  It is closed half a mile or so north of there so I didn't have to deal with any traffic.  There isn't anything wrong with the road for running or biking.  I got to the top and a little beyond to where I could look down into Bluffdale when the 9 miles were up.  It was actually quite peaceful.  The road is set down below far enough so you can't even really see the cars on the freeway and since the road is closed I hardly saw a soul.  Just one other person on a bike.  I was able to pee in private.  Anyway, my plan was to pick up the pace on the second half.  I ended up running the second half over a minute per mile faster.  I stopped to take a hammer gel at mile twelve but other than that I just kept going.  I felt strong all the way through the end.  My last mile was the fastest.  However, I should have hydrated better.  I didn't feel it during the run but I was thirsty for the rest of the day.  I couldn't get enough water.

I couldn't run yesterday because of work conflicts.  It couldn't be helped.  So I'm going to try and put in a few extra miles on my other runs this week, thus the 10 this morning.  I wondered how I would handle a 10 miler without consciously taking it easy for part of the run.  I took off and got into a groove at around 8:30-8:45.  It was till slower than three months ago, but faster than anything in the last two.  I waited for my strength to weaken a little but it never did, in fact I found myself running below 8 on mile 8.  I never made a decision to push it, it just happened.  I didn't have the strength to keep that pace up on the last two miles but I did run 8:15s on those.  Anyway, average pace was 8:30 and I'm starting to see some recovery from the injuries/blood donation of the last few months, finally.  I'm going to run 7 or 8 tomorrow.  I'm anxious to see how much I have in the tank.

6 crappy miles.  I was planning more but I only had time for 6, which is probably good because it was bad enough as it was.  It wasn't anything I didn't expect, I ran pretty hard yesterday.

6 more slow miles this morning.  I felt quite a bit better then yesterday actually, but not totally my strong self.  I also didn't have time to run as many as I wanted to.  I had an early morning commitment that I couldn't miss.  No for a long run on Saturday.

Failure.  Since I felt so good last week during the 18 miles I ran I thought I'd bump it up some.  I felt wonderful the first half of this run as well.  I felt like I could run for ever and decided to try for 22 miles instead.  I ran east just north of Utah Lake through the farms south of American Fork and Pleasant Grove.  Check out one of the great views I had.  It's hard to see the lake in photo.  So I turned around at mile 11.  Last week I had run 10:30s for the first half and picked it up on the second half running in the low 9s.  I started off running in the mid 9s today and was going to try and match that or even increase it with lest rest time on the way back just like last week.  Just a couple of miles later I could tell that it wasn't going to happen.  I took a gel then at mile 14 and felt better for a bit but then started to have some cold chills.  I could tell I was starting to get dehydrated.  I didn't have a lot of water left with me so I changed my route a little and cut north into American Fork to buy some Gatorade at the Holiday.  I chugged the whole 20 oz bottle and continued on.  West from there you go over the freeway then over a bridge over some railroad tracks.  These are 2 fairly substantial hills, at least the felt like it at the time.  I got over them.  So all of this happened over 2, maybe 3 miles since I took the gel at mile 14.  It sure felt more than that.  I stopped to walk for a bit just after mile 18 and lost my resolve.  I called my wife and told her to come get me.  I can think of two things that would have helped.  The first is a better meal the night before.  I had a steak.  Very delicious but not loaded with energy.  The second is a partner.  I tried to get in contact with my neighbor Richard.  He is running Utah Valley as well, but I couldn't get in touch so I ran solo.  It always helps to have someone drag you along and give encouragement not to quit.

Short 5 today because of a new pair of shoes.  I got a pair of Saucony Mirages.  I like them so far.  These are the shoes I'm planning on running Utah Valley in so I better like them. I also got a late start because I couldn't get to sleep last night.  I don't know why. 

I missed yesterday because I just blew it off.  I got up just after 4 and we had the windows open so it was freezing in the house.  It also sounded like the wind was howling.  I didn't want to run in freezing wind.  I stepped outside and it actually wasn't too bad and I was disappointed.  So I went back to bed anyway.

I only got 148 miles last month.  I wanted a whole bunch more.  I'm shooting for 200 this month but I'm off to pretty bad start.

I felt real sluggish when I started this morning. I figured it was going to be one of those days. I had time for 9 if I could keep up a decent pace, but I couldn't, until mile 5. I suddenly warmed up and my pace dropped by more than a minute per mile. That's a long time to get warmed up, approaching an hour!?  But I got it going and finished strong.

A fun 15 miles in St. George. I went down there for Easter to visit my mother-in-law. The weather Saturday morning was perfect, absolutely perfect, it couldn't have been any better. It was a really nice morning for a run. Did I mention the weather was perfect? I ran 15 miles without water. I know, that wasn't very smart, but the weather was perfect, and I was relaxed. I couldn't stop going. I told my wife I'd be gone an hour and a half or so but I actually planned on 2 hours, easier to get forgiveness than permission. But when I actually got out there, the weather was perfect and I couldn't stop. I ran out to the entrance to Snow Canyon State Park. I wish I would have even had more time, but I was pushing it with the 2 plus hours I actually ran. There was no crash like there was last week. I think a big part of the difference was my diet. Last Friday night I had a big steak, this time I had fried rice, the week before when I had that nice 18 miles I had pasta the night before. I hope it is that simple. Well, my running has been a little sparse. It couldn't be helped. Thursday I had to be into work early and home late and Friday I had more work than I could fit in before leaving for St. George. So it was a pretty crappy week. It is actually Monday now when I'm writing this report and I missed this morning again because we got back late last night. I have a huge work week again so I don't know that I will get very many miles in this week. The marathon will suffer but that is the way it goes.

 Here is a picture of the road up to Snow Canyon State Park.  I sure would have liked to keep running. 

I kept waiting for my body to warm up and feel strong. It never really happened. It did a little bit starting around mile 5 again, but not to the point of last week. I tried to keep my pace relaxed because I'm planning more 10s Wednesday and Thursday. I'm waiting to see if I get stronger or weaker.

I haven't done any speed work since last December. I have just been concentrating on building my mileage back up since my ankle issues. I have changed some things in my form since then and decided to try and work on increasing my cadence instead of straight up speed work.  I've never been able to even get close to the recommended 180.  I'm not even sure that is practical or even feasible for me because I'm tall and have long legs.  Does that cadence change for tall people with long legs?  I don't know, but I think it should.  So, I downloaded a metronome onto my iPhone, set it at 170 (actually at 85 so the beat would only be on my left steps), and turned up the volume.  I ran the first mile with metronome off.  I should mention that I did not want to be up this morning.  I almost didn't get out of be, then I almost went back to bed, then I almost turned back before the end of the first mile.  I was not in the mood to run, consequently my first mile was barely a shuffle, I could have almost walked faster than the 11 minute mile I ended up with.  My plan was to run mile repeats at the 170 tempo and just see how it went.  The first mile was easy and real slow.  I figured something was wrong because 170 is not slow for me.  I checked the metronome and it was set at 160 instead of 170.  Oops.  So the second me was better.  The pace was good and sustainable, maybe a little too easy.  I ran another.  After those were done I turned around and decided to run two miles at a time instead of just the one and that turned out to be fairly easy as well.  I'll have to bump it up next time.

What a great run.  It was so much better than the 20 miler I attempted two weeks ago.  This time I had great company, RAD, Toby, and Karen.  The only negative was the brief TMI girl talk that took place.  Other than that it was nice to run with the ladies, although it would be nice if a guy would come along every once in a while.  Anyway, I felt strong the entire way.  This is very encouraging for the upcoming marathon.  I don't know if I'll get my sub 4, but I'll get close.  After this run I feel like I'm getting the stamina, the question is can I got some of the speed back that I had last December over the next 6 weeks.  I'm going to work on that.  There is also a question of how much training time I'll be able to do.  I've been too dang busy, much busier than I'd like which is impeding me from putting in the miles I'd like.

8 miles in the cold, it was much colder than I expected.  My hands were freezing.  I was slow too.  I tried to put in a decent pace but it just wasn't going to happen.  I shuffled along, hopefully due to the 20 miler on Saturday.  I also put in the other inserts into my Altras.  They come with two sets, one traditional and one designed to strengthen your feet.  It's pretty much just flat.  I could tell that my feet were getting worked and tired.  Maybe that had something to do with my slower speeds this morning.  Probably not.

10 miles at marathon pace.  I felt better than yesterday.  This makes 930 miles on these shoes.  They're pretty trashed but I want to end on a nice round 1000.

14 miles before work. I'm booked on Saturday with yard work and want don't want to be wiped out. I need my energy to get stuff done, so I did my short-long run today. Does that make sense?   It was my long run for the week but it is a smaller rest week so it isn't a 20+ miler.  I felt great.  I got stronger and faster as the miles went by and ended with the last mile the fastest.  I didn't plan on a progressive run.  I wanted to get in a comfortably quick groove without burning myself out.  As the miles went by I found that I was going to have plenty left so I kept on picking it up.  I hope I'm functional today.

8 miles that started out more as a shuffle than a run.  My first mile as 11:08!  11:08?  Holy crap!  Well, I didn't have time to run 8 miles at that pace so I picked it up.  I was feeling tired legs after yesterday's 14 miler.  But I slowly started to warm up.  The rest were high 8s and low 9s except for the last one which I ran in at just under 8.  Cool considering how I felt when I started this run.  My hands were cold.

Crappy run this morning. I don't know why. I've had 2 days rest but my legs were dead this morning. I felt similar to how I felt after donating blood last month.  I hope things are better tomorrow.

9 miles into Saratoga Springs and back. I was slow again this morning and I still don't know why. I started to feel better the last mile or two but I didn't want to push it because I'm running my long run tomorrow night. I slept through yesterday's planned run. My alarm clock snooze button just broke so I must have just turned it off although I don't remember doing it.  Maybe I should have done that again today because I was up past 11 last night watching the Jazz game.  11 to 4:30 isn't a good night's rest.  So I was on my way back from Saratoga Springs on the first section of the JRP.  This area doesn't border the river it just has the road on one side and a fence on the other.  It is more just a paved sidewalk than anything else.  Anyway, I heard a noise right next to me and when I looked down I saw a skunk running right there, two feet away, as someone might run with their dog.  I jumped into the road and hauled ___ trying to put as much distance between me and the back of that thing as possible.  That sight did much more to elevate my heart rate than the run.  I got home and my wife asked me if I'd been sprayed by a skunk.  Crap, I didn't think I had but I must have got something because she smelled it as soon as I walked in.  Now my bathroom smells like skunk and its been 4 hours since I changed and took a shower.  My laundry went straight to the washing machine but the bathroom still smells bad.  Now I'm paranoid.  Do I smell like this now?  Maybe I should hide and not talk to people today.  I now I didn't get a full spray, I mean how could you miss that, but I got something.

There is only one thing good about this run, its over and I got in all 22.  Now I'll list the bad things.

First, it felt like I had ankle weights on the entire run.  I've felt like that all week but this run was the worst.  I don't know what the problem is but I'm taking a few days off.  I was going to take them off anyway because of a very busy schedule but now there is a reason besides that schedule.

Second, my feet ached.  It is probably related to reason number one.  Everything below my calves ached after mile 4 or so as if it was already on mile 20.  What is the deal?

Third, mile 9 or 10 I started to have stomach issues.  I didn't want gel or chews.  I did have some apple slices stashed on the trail at about 13 that I ate and those helped a little but I still didn't feel well.

Forth was the wind.  My planned route was to park at the bridge and run north up the point of the mountain an back to my car.  This would give me a rest stop at mile 10 where I could stash water, etc.  Then I had another stash on the trail 4 miles south near my house.  So instead of running 6 miles out from my car and back to make up the remaining 12 I ran further south and back so I would finish my 22 at my house.  If I was running north past my house with 4 to go until my car I might just stop at 18 and call it quits.  Ending 22 at my house removed that temptation.  So, back to the wind.  I run 13 miles south and 9 miles north.  More miles into the wind just plain sucks.

Fifth, the storm.  So for most of this run while I was fighting the wind I thought that at least the last 4 miles would be with the wind even though the 9 with was less than the 13 against.  Wrong!  Thursday night's storm started coming in shortly after I turned back to the north.  And of course it was a north wind.  THE DANG WIND CHANGED DIRECTION.  I WAS RUNNING AGAINST THE WIND AGAIN.  And not just wind but either cold bullet fast rain drops or soft hail, either way it stung.  I couldn't even run straight because the wind kept blowing me around and the last two miles was a down pour.  I was soaked.  However, the storm did give me an extra boost of adrenaline.  Before the storm I was barely moving along at a shuffle then the storm brought me out of that stupor.  I picked up the effort just to try and get out of the storm.  I was also yelling and cursing the storm.  I won't quote what was said (or yelled at the top of my lungs) because it isn't appropriate for this blog.  It's funny though, because of that wicked wind all that effort didn't increase my pace at all.  I still had a shuffle pace even though my effort was fueled by motivation and rage.

Number six is that I just plain felt crappy when I was done.  I was afraid to eat when I got home because I was sure it was going to come back up, so I went to bed.  It was around 9:30 or so.  I was also shivering.  I wasn't cold from the storm, my body was just messed up.  I don't know what the medical reason for it was but I needed some sleep.  I woke up around 12:30 feeling much better, but hungry and thirsty.  So I got up and had milk, cereal, ibuprofen, and ice cream.  I went back to bed and slept again till 8.  A good 10 hours sleep does wonders.

And now back to the one good thing.  I finished.  Its over.  There is something satisfying (and probably masochistic) about pushing your body to its limits and then pushing it some more.  I felt like shasdf;kjt after this run but I was upbeat with a smile on my face because I finished it in spite of all the obstacles.

10 fairly uneventful marathon pace miles. I ran south into Saratoga Springs again only I ran on the street instead of the 1/2 mile or so section of trail where I ran into the skunk. I don't want to go through that again. I've had the skunk shoes outside for 4 or 5 days now and they still stink. I ran in them today and the stink didn't transfer to my socks.  I don't know when or if I'll be able to bring them back inside.

10 miles in the early morning. It was beautiful weather after last nights thunder storm. I turned on my phone metronome. After a warm up I set it at 174 and was surprised that I could run relaxed at that cadence. I ran 5 miles there and then decided to bump it up just two steps per minute to 176 for the last three.  I only made it 1 mile through mile 8 at that cadence.  It's amazing that just 2 steps per minute makes that much difference, but I think 174 a few months ago would be next to impossible.  How important is all this cadence work?  My theory is that if I do speed work and make big improvements in speed but with bad form I won't be able to sustain that speed for any extended distance.

I saw another skunk today. There was more room between us this time and I didn't seem to bother him much, he bothered me however and I booked it past him. I set the metronome at 170, down from yesterdays 174 to take it a little easier than yesterday, however, I don't know if that actually results in less effort.  I'm surprised with how little cadence has with speed.  Just today my splits on miles 3-10 are 8:47, 8:28, 8:29, 8:32, 8:37, 8:17, 8:24, 8:14.  There is more than 30 seconds difference on mile 3 to mile 10 and the cadence was exactly the same.  Yesterday's splits at the 174 cadence (which feels very different by the way) are a little slower but I was intentionally trying to relax and hold back.  I don't know what I'm doing.

It was a bad weekend for running. I didn't get any of the 25 miles I wanted to run between Friday and Saturday. And I'll probably get some feedback saying that its alright we need days off sometimes. Hogwash. Utah Valley is less than a month away. These last weeks before the taper need to be high miles and I screwed up. I was busy but I still could have fit them in. The wind abolished my resolve each morning and then there wasn't a convenient time after that. Oh well, what's done is done. Now for this week. Today I did 10 down into Saratoga Springs. The moon sure is bright. Apparently it is brighter than usual because it is closer than usual. Anyway. It was COLD this morning. What is the deal? As for the run, I enjoyed it but only at a leisurely pace. I tried to push harder but it took the fun out.  I don't often see runners but someone went FLYING by this morning.  He went by as if I was standing still.  I was humbled.

10 fun miles in much better temperatures than yesterday.  I mixed in some Fartlek sections and got some fast paces for a third of a mile or so every so often.  I saw fast guy again.  He must run a very similar course as me, just in reverse.  I have seen him near my turn around point and then near then end the last two days.  It felt good this morning, not invincible good, but content good.

I didn't have it this morning.  Yesterday's Fartlek portions must have taken more out of me than I thought.  So I cut this one short and took it extra slow just to get the blood pumping through my tired legs.

What a crappy week for running. It started off great with 2 10 milers. Wednesday my legs were too tired for any more than 4. I didn't want to push it because I had a lot more miles planned the rest of the week. I don't know what happened Thursday. I just didn't feel like it so I slept through my run. I couldn't run Friday because of 20+ miles planned for Saturday. The last time I tried running the day before a big run I had a miserable 22.  There were other factors involved on that one, but I was dead from the start.  So now to today.  My plan was to run 10-12 in them morning starting at 5am or so, then to run the Willowcreek Middleschool 5k with my daughter, then finish out to complete 20+ miles.  Well I got a new alarm clock this week and I messed up setting it so I only had time for 3 before the race.  Then after the race we stayed for the raffle which took another hour.  So now I'm about 2 1/2 hours behind on the day and there just isn't time to get in those miles.

Well the 5k was fun.  My daughter doesn't like to run, or so she tells me all the time.  But her gym teacher is giving out huge extra credit points to those who run it.  In fact she doesn't have to take the sports rules test if she completes this run (who ever heard of a test in P.E.).  My daughter can't pass up extra credit so she wanted me to sign up with her.  We ended up averaging about 12 min and she was wiped out afterward.  I'm pleased with her effort and glad she had fun, but I don't think she is going to pick up running as a hobby anytime soon.

Nine miles north on the JRP. I was going to run 8 because I was a little short on time. 8 out and back takes me almost exactly to the barrier at the north end of Olympic Park where the trail is "closed" still.  Does anyone pay any heed to that barrier?  Anyway, it wasn't there.  I had a small amount of hope that the trail had been fixed and all was well again, but no.  There has been work on it but it isn't done yet.  Anyway, I took it easy because I want to get in a lot of miles this week.  It is the last high mileage week before Utah Valley.  I always have big plans for miles at the beginning of the week but they always fall apart as the week goes on.  I hope I can fight through get these last miles in.

I felt really good this morning. I didn't want to run this one fast because there are a lot more miles this week so I had to hold myself back. I even walked a few times just to get my heart rate down and hopefully save some legs for tomorrow.  Its hard to believe that record temperatures are expected for today because it was a little cool in spots.  The sunrise was an enjoyable sight.

Third run in a row, and these I usually struggle with. But today went pretty well. I did consciously take it easy yesterday so that helped. I got a bit of a late start so between that and tired legs I thought I would only be able to run 8. After the 4 mile turnaround I started to feel pretty good and picked it up, about 1 minute per mile faster than I expected to run it. So I had time for one more at the end.  I'm planning on my long run for Friday so I'll take tomorrow off and hopefully have the will power to run a recovery run on Saturday.

Good run. I took it super slow, 10:45 or so. At 13 I took a pitstop back at the house, took off the water belt, took a leak, and was out again, this time with no effort to keep it slow.  I just wanted to see what I had and I thought I might even go 26 because I was feeling great. Well, the storm hit. I was running into the wind for 4 miles and it just made me winded (pun intended). I decided to turn around and I'm glad I did. It wasn't long after that the lightning and rain started.  I started out wanting to do 20+.  I could have done more but I'm happy with 21.

7 quick miles, its taper time. I was surprised when it was time to turn around, 7 miles feels short.

What crappy week for running last week. Its supposed to be a taper, not an abrupt stop. So since it has been a week, since my last run, this one was slow and stiff.

Slept in and ran. Its a lot easier to find time for 3 miles than it is for 10.  I wan 'em pretty quick.  2 was 7:34 and 3 was 7:20.  It was just enough to get the blood pumping and the legs recovered from a week off and a slow sluggish run.  I'll run a few on Thursday then Saturday is the big one.

4 naked.

I'm an idiot. I've been training for June 2nd. The marathon is actually June 9th. Wow. I went down to Provo to pick up my race packet but there was nobody there. I checked my email (thank goodness for smart phones) to make sure I was in the right place. Oh no, wrong date. Wow, I am an idiot.  So I decided to run a half instead.  I'm glad the marathon was not on this day because I was miserable during the run.  I  was dead after 5.  The heat doesn't bother me much so I don't think it was that.  We've had a bug going around our house so my guess is that I was fighting it off and the only symptom was fatigue.  I finished up the 13 with some walking mixed it and was dead tired the rest of the day.  I went to bed early and felt better in the morning.  Went to 9am church and was home again by 10am.  I went back to bed and slept another 3 hours.  So I'm a blessed idiot, fortunate that the race is actually on the 9th.

OK, here it is.  Better late than never.  It was a bad omen when I got up to meet my neighbor Richard at 3am and there was a pretty stiff wind.  We drove down to Provo and caught the bus.  It never ceases to amaze me how long these bus rides are.  We have to run all this?  Crap.  So we get off on the east side of Wallsburg.  They had bunches of campfires for us to stay warm and plenty of pops.  My plan was to get with the 4 hour pace group and stay there.  I haven't trained as well as I wanted to over the months, there just wasn't time.  Family, work, yard, these all took priority and my training suffered but I wanted to leave it all on the course and go for it.  It was crowded and I couldn't start up by the 4 hour pacer but I wasn't worried, keeping a good pace would eventually catch me up.  Mile 1 - 8:49,  2 - 8:34,  3 - 8:45.  Good easy miles at a perfect pace.  My breathing was relaxed and I felt great, optimistic.  Mile 4 had the first aid station and I slowed for a drink, 9:02.  Mile 5 - 8:58, 6 - 9:26 (had to find a tree), 7, 8:57.  All these miles were right were I wanted them to be.  I didn't want to go too fast over the 4 hr pace.  The start of mile 8 I took a gel and couldn't get the dang thing open so there was more walking here than I wanted.  It also marked the end of the sheltered Wallsburg canyon.  It also started some big hills.  I didn't know this section was going to be so hard.  A big part of it was the head wind.  Wallsburg was sheltered but we were out now.  So this mile 8 was a big 10:46.  I wasn't tired here because I purposely took it easy.  I was more worried about conserving energy on the hills than I was with time.  Mile 9 - 9:35,  10 - 8:48.  9 was rolling hills and 10 was mostly down hill.  I picked up a little time here.  11 - 9:03,  12 - 9:49,  13 - 9:43.  These miles were more rolling hills and  head wind.  At the half way point I was 2 minutes behind but the big hills were behind me.  There was plenty of time left.  I opened the throttle a little to start to make up those 2 minutes.  Nothing happened.  I was running out of gas already.  My poor training of the last 30 - 45 days was showing its results.  14 - 9:58,  15 - 10:18,  16 - 11:07,  17 - 11:31,  18 - 12:03.  Look at that deterioration.  Bad news.  19 - 9:57 (I don't know why this one was faster),  20 - 11:09.  Mile 21 I stopped to say hi to Smooth.  Yay.  She put a smile on my face and probably cut 2 or three minutes out of my next few miles.  Thanks Smooth!  21 - 12:06,  22 - 11:44,  23 - 12:14,  24 - 16:24.  Mile 24 I realized I had no shot at a PR (4:25).  I know I'd lost the 4 hours long ago but this one I lost a lot of motivation.  I didn't want the last 3 miles to take 45 minutes but it didn't look good.  25 - 12:46,  26 - 12:33.  I devised a method to keep myself motivated for the last 2 miles.  I had to keep the current mile pace under 13 minutes.  When I got well into the 12s I afforded myself a small walk until the pace started to approach 13 again.  Finally I reached the final half mile and I found the will to finish it off.  I was done with this damn thing.  It may sound like a giant complaint depressing blog entry but it was still fun.  The back of the shirt they gave out says it all.  "Pain You Enjoy"

Work is eating my lunch. Worked 65 hours last week and its headed that way this week. I just haven't had time to run. This one however is at work. So really this run didn't take time away from work. Anyway, there is a celebration every year here at the Developmental Center where there is a parade, BBQ, booths, etc.  This is the first year there has been a 5k.  I came into this with no runs for almost 2 weeks and no speed work for months.  I wanted to see were my fitness and speed is.  I'm pretty pleased.  My last 5k was last November and I'd been doing speed work and running regularly.  My pace there was under 7:30 and today it was 7:35.  Not far off.  I was 2 minutes off the leader and 2 1/2 minutes ahead of 3rd place so my place was pretty secured.  There were probably 50 or so participants but many were pushing wheelchairs or walking with someone with a disability.  Anyway, it was a good time.  I'm hoping that work will slow down a little sometime in the next month so I can start running again.

A run, imagine that. The layoff took its tole. 4 miles was not that easy and I felt the effects for most of the rest of the day. Crap. I'll get back into it. I'm not too worried about performance right now. Work stress and worrying about getting enough miles for Utah Valley stopped running from being fun. I'm itching to get going again now so I hope to be putting in some miles although it won't be for marathon training anytime soon. I just don't have the time.

This run kicked my can.  I ran it in the mountains south of Liberty near Pine View reservoir.  It wasn't very high, 5800 or so, but I ran at 2 in the afternoon.  It was probably about 90 degrees with a bright overhead sun.  I have done a horrible job getting out to run the past couple of months and I never get to run hills in my neck of the woods.  All this conspired against me.  I did a lot of walking the second half of the run.  But all in all, I got out.  I ran.

I was hoping to get out again last week but it just didn't happen. And before vacation it was the d___ Olympics that did it to me. I was staying up well past 11 which meant no run the next morning. Oh well. Speed is understandably slow.  I had no expectations other than to just get out.  But toward the end I tripped and took a nice face-plant.  My knees, collar bone, nose, and forehead are all scraped up.  Why am I posting this ugly picture?

I missed the light months. Its dark again. Bummer. I was running south along the trail when something black streaked in front of me down the trail and then off to the right. It looked look a cat but it was dark. Skunks don't run that fast do they? Anyway, I'm scared of skunks, especially after getting hit a bit earlier in the year. So I decided to hug the left side of the trail even though it was probably just a cat. I heard it rustling in the bushes as I passed. Its pretty creepy along the trail in the dark and rustling in the bushes just adds to the creepyness factor. Well, just then I brushed my left leg against some high grass growing just off the left side of the trail that I didn't see. I just about jumped out of my skin! Over grass! I felt a little foolish after that but the adrenaline was still pumping pretty hard.

As for the run, it was better.  Its amazing how much you loose after a few months with almost no running.  But today showed a lot of improvement over Monday.

This run was extremely ordinary.

Fun run.  Got to run in the light.  I left at about 7am and ran into my South African friend, Richard.  I finished up with 18 for the week.  I'm pleased with those brief miles.  Good place to start after my two months of slacking off.  Still slow though, 9 min miles or so.  After this run my wife and I went with some friends to Midway for lunch (everyone), golf (guys), and shopping (girls).  Lunch was ... wait for it ... AWESOME.  We went to this mexican place that was incredible, best I've ever tasted, my new favorite restaurant.  And a bakery, equally as good.  Here is a picture of the place.

The golf was awesome too, Wasatch Mountain course. 

The biggest nemesis impeding me from my early runs and weekly miles is staying up too late. Sunday night I stayed up watching the late sports news shows. There wasn't even anything interesting on them. Preseason football? Really? I stayed up for that? Anyway, an 11:30 bedtime is bad for a 4:30 wake up call, so I skipped Monday's run.  I want 4 runs this week so I should be able to get them all in.

I saw a skunk this morning.  It was dark so I didn't get a good look at him but it loped across the trail instead of dart like a cat would.  It also looked like he had his tail up.  Scary.  So I turned around and went the other way.  I so some runners this morning.  A group of 4 all with headlamps.  (I hate wearing those things so I just run in the dark.  I've run on the trail enough to trust it. I can't even blame last week's fall on the dark.  It was at the end of my run and was light by then.)  Where was I?  They were headed for the skunk when I saw them the first time.  I saw them again on my way back and it seems like they must have turned around somewhere near where I saw the skunk.

My speed was better.  I didn't feel all that strong but my average pace was the best it has been since I started again.  And that included a break to see what the skunk was going to do.  So I'm coming along but still have a long way to go.  I hope I can get in decent shape by the time the Utah half comes along.  I should get a PR because I've never actually raced a half before.  Weird huh.  

I saw that dang skunk again. I thing my south bound route is closed for a while. A skunk had that route closed for a while a few years back as well. I don't think he'll give me a schedule for when he might open it again.

So I turned around and ran north.  My legs were a little tired today.  The next day after a 5 miler my legs are tired?  Really?  Two months off really kills the fitness.  And it doesn't help that I gained 15 pounds during that time.

I don't even remember this run. I thought I had entered it already but I guess not. I do know that I ran north instead of south to keep away from the skunk. Oh yah, I remember thinking my legs shouldn't feel this dead after a days rest.

This run was brutal. I ran it at 1pm in the heat. My legs are tired. I've jumped in a little fast with 22 miles on my second week back but I don't feel any sore potential injury spots, just tired, so I'm not worried. I tried to squish a few grasshoppers but they seemed to escape at just the last moment. (random thought) The rest of they day I felt wiped out. I felt like I had run more than twice as long as I actually did. What the helmet! 7 miles should not be this hard.

Good run. I still feel week and tired. Those are the consequences of slacking for 2 months so I can only blame myself. But I did have my fastest average pace this morning since I came back. I saw another runner with no light. One of the only times I've ever seen that. I'm definitely in the minority with running in the dark without a light, even without moon light.

Ran at 11am.  It was overcast but still hot.  My endurance sucks right now.

Took this on good and slow.  Just under 10 mm.  I felt pretty good toward then end and was running 8:30s.  I woke up at 5am to get out nice and early but I heard the rain and thunder and thought better of it.  I slept in and went out about 9.  It was nice and cool from the rain and was very pleasant.  

Went out around 9 and still could see my breath a little. I love it. But this perfect running weather won't last long. Soon it will be freezing cold.  My right knee has been acting up a little, not enough to slow me down, but enough to stiffen up during the day when I've been sitting.  It isn't the same knee that was giving me problems about 18 months ago.

On a non-running note I took my kids with my parents to the Brigham City temple open house.  I don't mean to sound sacrilegious but it was miserable.  We waited for 1.5 hours in a line that went all the way around the block, and I mean all the way, only to wait in more lines once inside the parking garage.  Once inside it smelled like BO and you were rushed through so fast with such big crowds that there was no chance to enjoy the beauty.  Disappointing.  I'd hoped for a better experience for my younger kids.

That was a depressing paragraph but I had to get that off my chest at the risk of offending someone. Oh well. Next is a picture I snapped on my run.  This picture looks toward the south-west over Utah Lake looking at Provo Canyon.  The sun is just about to pop up.

My legs were a little tired still from yesterday's run but still didn't have much trouble. I took it a little slow but felt pretty good the last couple of miles and picked up the pace a little. It was nice and cool with a bright moon. Very nice.  I've got a good start on the 30 miles I want to get in this week.

My goal of 30 miles last week failed.  Mostly it was just sleeping in.  I have to do better.  Today was half mile repeats.  I ran 4 of them at about 8 min mile pace.  Slow.  I was so much faster a year ago.  

7 miles on the parkway. Pleasant run.

No running for a bit. I'll probably forego the salt lake half, or whatever that that thing is called. I have a seizure disorder as a result from a tumor in my head removed about 6 years ago.  There wasn't any cancer or anything so all is back to normal except these seizures.  My medicine has been working for several years without any issues until Saturday.  It wasn't a big deal but its not something I want to happen in a run especially since they're all solo.  And they can sometimes be triggered by physical exertion.  So I'm going to lay off the running for a couple of weeks probably until I'm confident that all is straightened out.

My sister-in-law is coming up for Christmas and wants to know if there are any 5Ks around Christmas time. Does anyone know of any? She wants to get her family running one together, mom, dad, sisters, etc.

Anyway, running update. There has been none. They changed up the dosage on my meds a little but its only been a few days. My schedule has been messed up too. I can't drive. Utah law says 3 months seizure free. So my wife drops me off on her way to school. I don't want to get up at 4am to fit one in before we leave. So my schedule sucks. I can't go home from work a little early to fit one in before dinner because I'm dependent on others for rides. I'll figure something out.

Well, I ran, barely. I was going to run 4 and take it easy. I didn't make it. I cut it short and walked for a bit every 5 minutes. I am so out of shape. Embarrassing. But, I got out. I'm going to try and get out again on Monday. Wish me luck.

Much better than Saturday, but dang I'm fat.

4 slow miles. Felt better physically like I don't have to worry about a running injury with 4 miles.  I have a long way to go.

4 more take-it-easy miles. No Garmin. I'm starting to feel a little stronger but I'm sure I'd get some injury or another if I jump in too fast.

6 miles on the JRP. Ran into RAD, Smooth, and Luz a few miles in. I knew they were starting at 7:30 but I did't have a lot of time and needed to start earlier.  So I started at my house and tried to time it so I'd catch them coming south as I was going north.  I didn't and figured they were running north instead, oh well.  Well they just got a late start and ended up catching up with me at willow park.  Wow that was a long boring explanation about nothing nobody even wants to hear.

So back to the run.  6 miles is the longest I've run since September and it felt great.  It was wonderful to run and be able to keep running for more than a half an hour and to run with friends even if I am only slightly faster than a turtle right now. 

5 early miles in the dark on the JRP. There was no moon. I should bring a light when it is this dark. At least there are no cars on the trail. Still slow and taking it easy but enjoyable none the less. Great weather too. Nice and chilly but not too cold.

Pretty warm this morning, it was nice. Still slow but feeling stronger. I forgot to turn around at 2.5 miles so I continued and turned around at 3 and ran 6 instead of 5. Maybe I'll run with my Garmin next week to see where I'm at.

4 miles on the parkway.  First time in a while for back to back runs.  Slow as expected.

7 miles with Richard.  Still building speed and distance and still scared to take a garmin.