Why I Oughta!!!

Cathy and I got up at 4am to run an easy 5 miles around Bloomington.  I could tell she wanted to turn around and go home.  It was a slow 5 mile, but the last 0.6 miles I ran a 7:30 pace to the end.

After work I got on the bike and rode up to the SHAQ to swim laps.  It was a cool 108 F, against the wind, and all up-hill.  It was a good ride!

I swam 72 laps.  First 10 was a warm-up with a variety of strokes, rest and stretches.  The next 10 laps I did in 4.25 minutes.  Another 10 in 4.5 minutes.  The next 20 laps was 8.75 minutes.  Last 30 laps were easy with an additional 2 lap cool down.  No one was at the pool today and that was very nice to have it all to myself.

Rode home the long way through St George traffic and many lights.  I still managed an average 19 mph all the way home.  I was on the trainer too, so that makes the time extra impressive!?  (the 'trainer' is my old steel 1970 raliegh road bike) Many good times on her!!!

Ran with Cathy for an easy 2 miles.  Ran the last mile a little faster.  Just a recovery run so I can do 14 tomorrow.  I hope I make it to yoga today!

Cathy, Elijah, Cordon And I ran the begining of the marathon course today.  We took it very easy and had a great run (2:33).  At mile 8 and 11, cordon & I ran a 1 mile tempo.  The garmin battery died, but i figured we ran around a 6 minute pace.  For the last mile I ran a 7:00 pace.

I will try to swim and lift latter today.

What I thought was going to be a very painful and slow run turned into a very short and fun run.  After running 15 miles yesterday, I thought I would be too sore and tired to do anything productive today.  I started with a 1-mile walk and then ran a 1 mile 8:35 pace to see how I felt.  That first mile was sore and stiff so I ventured another mile to see if conditions would change.  It did!! I ran a pace of 8:15 and felt really good.  The next mile was the same, an 8:13 pace.  I finished off another 0.2 miles just to annoy my OCD tendencies.  I then walked another mile for good measure.

We went out this evening for a 20 mile bike ride (1:20 at a 15 mph average).  We hit the DQ for blizzards and then coninued on around st george traffic and trails.  Cathy had one crash because she didn't get out of the clips before the light.  She got a bloody knee.  After we got home we took the kids out to watch the fireworks.  AHHHH!!!!  We then sat in the pool to cool off before bed.  What a nice day!

I was out the door by 4:15 am for my 7 mile run. I just took it easy, mainly due to the fact that I want to do speedwork tomorrow. The total run time was 1:01:37 (8:49 pace).

Mile 1 = 9:14 pace This was my warm-up. At this point I wasn't sure if I wanted to do 7 miles.

Mile 2 = 9:08 pace I climbed the two little hills on Bloomington Dr and the steep climb on Tonaquint. I ran the tonaquint hill much faster than expected.

Mile 3 = 8:40 pace This is the best down hill part of the run, but I was still taking it easy and wondering why I was doing this route.

Mile 4 = 8:46 pace Enjoying the run now!

Mile 5 = 8:32 pace Now I'm trying not to speed up. Ran into a skunk on the trail. I got away from the skunk without any incident. The pace did quicken for a few hundred feet!

Mile 6 = 8:33 pace The moon is shining in my eyes now and I can't see!

Mile 7 = 8:32 pace Off the trail and running back down the first mile route. The path is slightly up-hill and I should be cooling down... right!!?

Swam 40 laps at the pool this evening.  Forgot my goggles, and tried to swim without them.  Now my eyes burn and the vision is blurred.  So after cutting my swim short, I went to the gym to work out the lower body.  I kept the set to 3 each per muscle group and weight low.  I want to do speedwork tomorrow!

Went to the track this morning. The plan was to run 6 X 800 at 3:40 minutes per rep. Between each Rep I did a 3:40 minute recovery of walking. I started with a half mile walk around the track, and then a one mile warm-up at a 9:05 pace.

Rep 1 = 800m in 3:27 min. A little faster than the goal pace.

Rep 2 = 800m in 3:30 min. Getting closer to the goal pace, but still too fast.

Rep 3 = 800m in 3:19 min. What happened? Did I not pay attention to my watch? Too Fast!!!

Rep 4 = 800m in 3:28 min. Okay... maybe I'm getting tired... the speed will come down.

Rep 5 = 800m in 3:21 min. DOH!!!!

Rep 6 = 800m in 3:22 min. Oh Well!!! Great workout!

I obviously ran too fast. Maybe my recoveries were too long/easy. I know I could have ran faster. But no reason to get injured. Right after the last Rep I finished with a 1 mile cool down at an 8:04 pace, and I walked one more time around the track for good measure, but really to only make the whole workout even at 7 miles. heehee!!

Ran very easy with Cathy early this morning.  She was not in mood to run, but I made her do it anyways.  We started out very slow and walked a few times.  The last half of our run we picked it up a little.  I feel great after my speedwork yesterday.

Swam 120 laps this evening at the City pool.  The distance is a little longer than 1.7 miles.  I wanted to swim only an hour.  I hit the 120th lap at 59:00.  I think I swam more laps than that since I kept loosing count and going back in count. Oh well... it was all a good work out!  I swam the last 60 laps non-stop.  During warm-up I stretch and rest a minute or two between 10 and 20 laps. 

Had planned to do 14 miles today. Due to lack of time (out the door at 4am) and sluggishness, I only did 12.2 miles. I ran the trail along the Virgin River, up and back.  I ran most of the miles at my goal pace, but inbetween slower miles.  I finally set my garmin to lap every mile.  I liked that, but I won't add those details here.  Between warmup, and recovery miles I averaged a 8:39 pace.

Going camping tonight with the scouts, so no other work out today.  Wish me luck!  I will just sit in my chair eating chips and jerky for the next two days while the scouts fumble tents and meals.  I remember those good ole days!?

Went camping with the boyscouts last night up above Cedar City near Websters flat.  The boys had fun.  We did a 5+ mile hike today.  No trail... we just walked through thick forest and under growth.  The stabilizer muscles got a good workout.

When I got home, Cathy immediately wanted to eat.  So we went to the buffet and pigged out!!  When we got home, we went for a tempo bike ride.  I was pushing Cathy for 20 miles at average speeds around 19-21 mph.  Cathy was awesome!!!  After the ride, I jumped into my running shoes and scooted out the door.  I was only planning a 2-3 mile run.  I started very slow (9:45 pace) due to my biking legs.  After a half mile, the biking leg sensation left and I picked up the pace.  The first mile ended up being a 8:57 pace.  Mile 2 = 8:35;  mile 3 = 8:17,  mile 4 = 8:21, and mile 5 = 8:06.  I feel really good!!!!

What a tough start!  I got out by 4am, but the first mile was a drag.  I literally dragged myself down the road.  I took a few walk breaks for the first 2 miles.  The second mile was a hill climb.  That hurt... but mile 3 was all down hill.... nice!  I slowly picked it up every mile until mile 6, I felt great! 

Mile 1 = 10:14, mile 2 = 9:31, mile 3 = 8:33, mile 4 = 8:27, mile 5 = 8:18, mile 6 = 8:04, and mile 7 = 8:34

At lunch I did 1 hour of upper body weight training.  Threw in a few abs too! 

Now it's 5:30 pm and I'm tired.  I will forgo my monday swim so I can sleep.  Good Nite!!

Hill work taday....  I sleep long last night, which was very needed!!!! I missed my chance to run this morning.  So... in between meetings at work, I stopped by the Rec Ctr and ran my hills on the treadmill... That was a first!!  I thought it would hurt to run hills on the treadmill, but found the whole experience to be very enjoyable!!

I started with a 1 mile warm-up at 9:55 pace.  Then I ran 5 hills at an 8% grade.  The intervals were 400 meters up and 400 meters recovery.  The pace on the up-hills were 9:05 to 9:15, and the recoveries were flat at a pace of 9:30 to 9:45.  I then ran 2 more miles at interval paces of 7:30 to 9:15.  I felt good, and I was soaked.  While cleaning my treadmill of my sticky sweat with a cleaner, I notices I soaked the treadmills on each side of me.  That was probably why the guy next to me left on my second hill.  Whew!!!

Cathy and I swam laps this afternoon at the City pool.  We swam 1 mile.  I wasn't breathing very well... I never got into the groove.  I had to stop every 10 laps to breath for a minute.  I did get a 20 lap section in from lap 40 to lap 60. 

I went out for an easy run and just carried the garmin to chime in the mile markers.  I started out very easy and progressively ran faster each mile.  I did the same thing Monday for my easy run.  My mile splits: mile 1 = 9:07, mile 2 = 8:37, mile 3 = 8:31, mile 4 = 8:19, mile 5 = 8:06, mile 6 = 8:00, and the tenth was a 7:57 pace.

I didn't feel like doing much today.  Before my yoga class I walked 1 mile and ran 1 mile on the treadmill.  Then biked 3 miles on the stationary bike.  Yoga class was great!

Long run with Cathy, Elijah , and Cordon.  Cordon and I ran ahead, and Cathy spent a majority of her run trying to motivate Eli to keep going.  We ran 9 miles uphill to snow cyn and bluff.  Then we ran 7 miles downhill on bluff st. and trail.  Jumped in the pool since the temperature was getting up in the mid 80's.  We started at 4:30am and I swear it was already 80's.

Saturday I biked 38.5 miles.  Most of it was a tempo pace above 20 mph.

Tempo run... Temperature was hot at 4am (80º F)  I wasn't exactly sure what kind of run I was going to have.  Total time = 57:05 (8:10 pace)

First 2 miles I took it easy with walk breaks every 4 minutes.  I was also going uphill the entire time so I could glide down for the next 5 miles.

Lap 1 = 9:31 uphill

Lap 2 = 9:01 Big hill - I ran it hard

Lap3 = 7:41 Down hill

Lap 4 = 7:30

Lap 5 = 7:40 A fox was sitting in the middle of the trail... we scared each other... almost kicked him

Lap 6 = 7:32

Lap 7 = 8:10 garmin died... cool down lap - may have ran it faster... All good!!

I just wanted an easy run today. I took a stop watch so I could run 4 min, and walk one min. Towards the last 1.5 miles I forgot to do my walks. I must have felt good or was lost in thought!? I ended up running 8:45 pace based on mileage and time (43:45). I really tried to run slower.

Cleaned the pool when I finished my run. The pool still looks bad... thank you St George dust storms!!

Easy on the treadmill, plus one mile walk. Legs are tired. Upper body strength training today too!

Did some more treadmill running.  I'm slowly getting the soreness out of me and I hope this is the worst day of my cold. I walked 3 miles before my run.  Skipped yoga so I could attend a running series seminar put on through the St George Marathon.  I am glad I went; the information was good and I won a pair of new running shoes at Steve Hoopers Running Store.  Thanks Steve!!!

I laid in bed fighting the urge not to run, and I should have listened.  I have been sick most of the week and I needed the rest.  But... by 8am I ran out the door to run in the nice warm St George temperature.  I did okay for the first 9 miles.  Coughed up a lot of junk along the way.  Then I just ran out of energy toward the end, but I finished!!  Laid in bed for the rest of the day.

Did a small amount of speeedwork on the treadmill. I'm still a little sick from the weekend, so not a whole lot of energy. I did 4x800's; one interval at 7:00 pace and the other 3 at a 7:30 pace. 400 meter recoveries in between intervals.

Ran the treadmill, or as one of my running friends calls it 'the dreadmill'.  It was too hot to go outside to run.  After my run we quickly hurried over to the pool for a mile swim.  The swim felt so easy, maybe because my run warmed me up.

Cordon, Cathy, elijah, and I ran the St George marathon route. Started a Baker resevoir at 5 am and we ended at the church on sunset in 3 hours. Great run... beautiful morning!! Cordon and I went to sushi for lunch. Awesome day!!!