Why I Oughta!!!

Ran with my wife.  It was her first marathon!!!

Month total

Month total

Skipped wednesday run and speed work.  Right knee is a little sore from tight ham.

Lake to Lake 50 miler relay.  Leg 5 & 8.  Ran leg 5 at 10K pace.  Leg 8 had a longer hill and it slowed me down.

Ran 1 mile on tread mill.  Walked  2 miles after around the neighborhood. Taking this week off.  Knees are sore from tight hams and quads.

Feeling A LOT better.  Only ran 1 mile after I walked 3 miles on the treadmill.  I don't want to push it yet with tight hams.

I could have pushed this race a little harder, but after taking a week off for my sore right knee, I'm very pleased with my run and time.  This time should be a good indicator that I can run a 3:45 marathon this October.  Good News!!! My knee doesn't hurt!!!

We are camping on the Beach this week. Dohoney State Beach at Dana Point, CA. BEAUTIFUL area!!!! Running has been fun and inspiring. Many trails and runners to visit with!!

We are having a blast camping on the beach.  My wife is very happy that our camp ground has hot showers and private bathrooms.  I made her sleeping conditions so confortable, she may want to stay longer.  But, all good things must come to an end.  We went home today.  The 3 year old was jubulant, but rest were bummed that the week was over.

My run was again very beautiful and traveled north to see more sites.  When I came to a dead end of cliffs and tide pools, I got too close and slipped into the water.  I did pull out a star fish that was the size of a volleyball.  I ran back to camp at a pace better than my marathon pace goal. (7:45 per mile)  I'm feel very good today.

I was feeling like I needed a faster than normal run today.  My marathon goal pace is 8:35.  Today I ran my 10 miles at 8:42.  I figure I ran my pace since I chose to run a very hilly course with one monster hill (10:00).  I felt good all the way to the finish.  I could have ran it faster, but I knew I was going hiking later with the kids up Angles Landing in Zion's National Park.  I went hiking with the kids and I carried the 2 yr old in the carrier backpack.  AND... MY LEGS DON'T HURT!!  Great day!!!  Mainly because I ran a good time, ate at Wendys for lunch, hiked a beautiful trail with my family, and ate at the Oriental Buffet for dinner.  : )  I will have ice cream before bed!!!

Busy day... so I ran that evening at the gym on the treadmill.  Right knee hurt a little.... again!!!!  Walked one mile after run.

Did a moderate upper body work out after run/walk.

Rode bike to work.  Easy ride.

Ran at lunch time today.  The first 2 miles the inside right knee felt a little sore so I started out very easy by running 4 minutes and walking 1 minute.  I did that for the first 15 minutes then the knee pain stopped and I slowly picked up the pace every half mile.  I ran 1 mile at marathon pace and finished strong.  I suspect the hamstring is the cause of my knee pain.  Pain goes away when I stretch the ham.

Rode bike to work, home for lunch for my run, back to work again, and then to the gym for yoga.  Spent an hour in yoga doing A LOT of power yoga and balancing poses.  It burned the quads really good.  Rode bike home.  Cathy rode with me to the gym.

Then the kids and I went to Del Taco for taco nite... HEE HAW!!!

What a day to run... LOTS of wind!!!  My 11 year old son and I left the house with a 2 mile warm up (10:40 pace).  It was up hill and head wind... errrrrr!!!  After we got turned around and had the wind at our backs, we picked up our pace for the next 4 miles.  The last mile was head wind and slightly up hill.  Over-all pace 9:16.

Rode bike to work today in the wind and with a few sprinkles from mother nature... All Fun!!  Tonight is yoga.

Yeserday, I rode my bike to work, and that night I swam half mile (15 minutes) at City pool.

First I ran to work to change a setting on some eqiuipment I left running.  I made this my warm up run since it was down hill and 3 miles (9:05 pace).

Next, I took a 3 mile (8:58 pace) up-hill climb that left me breathless by the time I got to the top. I'm glad I pushed myself.

The next 5 miles was a slight to gradual downhill.  My pace got up to 8:11 at times but the average ended up being 8:41. Ran 1 mile cool down with walking (10:26 pace)  I feel really good.  I made myself a 3 egg omlet wrapped over fried spaghetti, salsa, and mozzarella cheese... yummm!!

Yesterday, I biked 19 miles.  During the middle of the ride I stopped at the City pool to swim 34 laps, then rode home.  Good day!

 Biked to work everyday this week.

Easy run today.  I needed this run!  Too many things went wrong at work, so at lunch, I headed home to put on my shorts and running shoes.  I took the trail that leads out of Bloomington along the Virgin river.  I was glad no one was out today, I may have bit a head off or two!!!  I started out fairly easy the first mile, than every mile after that got faster and faster.  I took the bridge over the river and headed home for a grand total of 5 miles today.  My average pace came to 8:40.  I had to have ran my last mile under an 8 minute mile.

Extra credit for the day:  Rode bike to work.

Rode bike to work.

Went to yoga after work for 1 hour.  Tight quads.

Ran treadmill for 2 miles after yoga.

I'm going to have a HUGH bowl of ice cream now!

Today I ran my long run for the week with a tempo/race pace.  I did the first half of my run to yoga class.  The outside temp was 82 with a head wind, and to top it off, the course is all up-hill.  The stop lights were working against me and parts of the roads were under construction.  I did the run with an 8:41 pace.  Not bad for a slow, fat guy.

Yoga was good.  But it seems to only stress my tired legs for the run home.

The run home was cooler, down hill, and no wind.  The lights worked to my favor this time.  I did a 7:53 pace home.  Total miles = 11.6 miles (5.8 miles one way)

Yesterday, I rode 20 miles on my bike with a 3/4 mile swim in the middle of my ride.

I decided to run a new area of St George. My 11 & 13 yr old followed on bikes. We rode from bloomington up to the Green Valley Spa Area where the green valley loop trail starts. I ran the first 6 miles at a 9:03 pace. The trail really slowed me down because of steep drops, hard pan and rutty trail. My stabilitzer muscles will be reminding me of this run for the next few days. I was slower on the trail with a 10:54 pace for 4.5 miles. The last 2.5 miles I ran at marathon goal pace (8:31). Total time was 2:04:32 for a 9:35 pace. The trail was fun and beautiful. The boys can't wait to ride that course again.

Yesterday, I swam 46 laps. 30 laps I swam at a fast pace to see if my time improved. I did improve 1 minute for a total time of 15 minutes. Next time I will eat the fish taco, macho burrito, 2 regular tacos, and 2 cokes after my swim, not before... yikes!!!

My 11 yr old and I headed out for what he thought was an easy run.  We ran the first 2 miles at a 10:00 pace with 1 minutes rest breaks after every 4 minutes of running.  The entire 2 miles was up hill.  After that, it was all down hil for the next 5 miles.  I just relaxed and let my body feel the groove.  I ran the 5 miles at a 7:57 pace.  It all felt great!!  I would have ran faster but I'm a little gun shy of injury.  The 11 yr old dropped out with 2 miles left.  He wasn't feeling the same groove.  Total average run was 8:32 pace.

Rode bike to work, then home, then back to work, and then home for a total of 10 miles.  Easy ride!

Started as a leisurely run for lunch, ended with me running well under my marathon goal pace.  Ran 5 miles with an average time of an 8:16 pace.  I ran the last mile under an 8:00 pace.  I'm wondering if a 3:45 marathon goal will be too easy by October.

Swam 42 laps at the pool.  Swam my 30 laps in 13 minutes.  That is my fastest time yet.  I had a guy in the lane next to me motivating me to go faster.  Okay, okay... I had to beat him and I did!!!!  Did a 10 lap cool down after my 30.

Ran on a hilly course through bloomingto hills and around through the back way into bloomington.  Total average time was 8:40 pace.  Good run!

Ran easy for the first 2.5 miles.  My son wanted to walk a little, so I left him and I paced around a 8:10 for 2 miles.  I was suppose to take today easy... oh well!!!

Did a little speed work at the Dixie College track.  The sky was dark and the wind was howling.  The conditions were perfect!

I only did 4 reps at 1:30 pace per 400 meters with a 200 meter recovery between each rep.  Ran a 9:00 warm up mile and a 8:00 cool down mile.  Didn't want to over do it since I'm participating in a sprint triathlon this saturday.

Went to yoga right after the run.  That was a nice recovery!

This morning started with the SHAQ Triathlon.  I participated in the sprint for fun.  I should have tried harder, I got third in my age bracket... DOH!!  I smoked the swim, and I am not a swimmer.  The bike was headed to be a fast time until I got to the area to mount the bike and I was missing one shoe.... DOH!!!  A kind volunteer found my shoe, and after my 2 minute delay I was off on the bike.  I passed everyone... heehee!  Minus the disappearinng shoe trick, my time was better than expected.  The run was okay... I lost time in transition again because I wanted to wear socks for the run.  That killed another minute to minute and a half.  I finished with a time of 1:09:01.

I ran home after the race so I could get my extra running miles for the day.  I took it easy not knowing if I was going to bonk on the way home.  I averaged  a 9:00 pace for 8 miles.  This was a good day!  Taking it easy for the last 3 days must have helped with all this extra energy today.

Elijah and I got up at 5 am to run our loop.  We took it nice and easy up the hill for 2 miles (10:30 pace).  Then cruised the rest of the way home.  Average pace was 9:19 for all 6.5 miles.  We did a few fartliks and 1 mile marathon pace.

Biked to work and swam 50 laps at the pool.

My son Joshua bragged last night that he was the jugernant because he ran 5 miles in 38:30.  Not bad for a beginner.  So today, I ran my 5 miles in 37:56 (7:36 pace). heehee

Going to yoga tonight and rode my bike to work.

I started today with a 5:30 am run.  St George is getting into the mid 90's... too hot to run during lunch.  The City has been slowly resurfacing the trails along the Virgin river this week so I ran an old loop through bloomington that I use to run a lot.  I also decided to track my performance per mile.

Mile 1 started out as a warm up, but it has a slight down hill for the first 0.8 mile.  I ran it at a slow 9:24.  The last 0.2 mile had a sharp climb.

Mile 2 had the rest of the hill to climb with the last 0.3 mile with a sharp drop. 9:05 pace

Mile 3 was all slight down hill so I did an acceleration at 7:23.  I guess I didn't push myself hard enough because I still wanted to maintain the pace.  But this was not suppose to be a tempo run.

Mile 4 was just the momentum left over from the previous mile. (8:06) It was flat and slightly up-hill.

Mile 5 was my cool down, but not really.(8:48)  It was all slightly up-hill. The over-all run averaged out to an 8:34 pace.

My marathon goal pace for St George Marathon is 8:35 with a finish time of 3:45:00.  I'm getting that feeling that I may exceed my goal.  But I plan to take it easy with small increases in my training schedule. I'm swimming 2 or 3 times per week and riding my bike to work everyday. Yoga and weight training is included. Yoga tonight.

Yesterday, I did a light lower body weight training and swam 50 laps.  All this training sure makes it fun to eat!!  I'm loosing weight, must eat more!!

It was hill work today. I'm not sure if this work out put me into the threshhold category. I originally planned to do 5-6 hill repeats, but being the over-acheiver that I am, I did 8 hills.

Maybe I shouldn't count the first hill since it was during my warm-up miles, it was low (2-3% grade), and I only ran it at a 8:30 pace. After warming up for 2 miles I hit the hill on Piute drive. The section of hill I ran was about 500 feet in length. I ran the hill on both sides at an average pace of 7:00. One time I did the pace at a 6:30.

After the hills I took off to do some extra miles and of-course when I came apon a hill, I had to speed up. The last hill was the big one. A third of a mile long and probably a 7-8% grade. I kept a 10:00 pace so I could finish the rest of my run.

The next 4 miles was all slightly down hill and with the wind at my back for the first half. My pace ranged between 7:30 to 8:20. I just let my body choose the speed it wanted. I felt like I could have ran faster. The last mile I took a 0.1 mile walk break and then resumed a 8:30 pace home on a slight up-hill.

Good work out!!

5:30 am easy run today.  Average pace 9:21.  First 2 miles was a 10:37 pace and uphill.  Next 4 miles the average pace was 8:43.  The last mile was an 8:00 pace.

That evening I did a lower body and abs weight training.  Biked to work.

Just ran hard... Pace was 7:27.  Total time 37:11

Yoga was a nice post stretch and biked to work.

The whole run averaged 8:30 which is 5 seconds under my marathon goal pace. My run was late in the day because I choose to ride my bike this morning. I went to yoga and really put the moves on in class. Then I ran home. I know a ran a couple miles under an 8:00 pace. Running sure has felt good over the last 5 weeks.

Yesterday I swam a mile. I have been working up to that for the last 4 weeks. It got easier to swim the long I kept at it. I could have swam longer, but I didn't want to over do it.

I have biked to work every day this week and been doing more strenth training.

Long run today.  I took the first mile as a very wasy warm-up run walk.  Then the next 8 miles I ran at a comfortable pace (8:07).  At mile 9 a head wind hit and that played with my head for sure!!  I did the next 5.1 miles at an 8:50 pace.  The half marathon pace averaged out to 8:24, which is better than my marathon goal pace of 8:35. With all the walks and breaks and finishing strong the last 2 miles (8:36), my total run ended up being a 8:46 pace.

One lesson learned today; don't swim a mile the night before you do a long run.  But, this was good training if I decide to do an Ironman in 2 years...  : D

This evening Cathy and I went for a 10 mile bike ride.  I pulled the kid trailer with joseph & ammon on board.  Nice evening ride.

This was suppose to be easy this morning.  I ran the first 2 miles with 1 minute walk breaks after 4 minutes of running (19:30 min)(9:46 pace).  I didn't bring the garmin, so I just ran comfortable.  The next 5 miles I ran an 8:05 pace.  Felt easy!!  Total time was 1:00:32.  I did some upper body strength training for 45 minutes before my run.  Rode bike to work.

My motivation today was "Ironman May 2011".  The Ironman is coming to St George next year.  I don't feel I could finish within the allotted time, so my goal is be ready for 2011.  I can swim a mile comfortably in 35 minutes.  I can bike the distance and the marathon I can do, but I'm not sure if I can finish a marathon after going 6-7 hours on a bike.  It's a goal!

Tonight we swim and then a message.... AHHHH!!!!!

ran an 8:30 pace from the rec ctr after yoga. Yoga was a hard work out.

Ran the first 2 mile warm-up at 8:48 pace.  Ran the next 5 miles at a 7:56 pace. Over-all pace 8:11.  Well under my marathon goal pace.

Biked to work everyday this week.

Yoga tonight and maybe a 1 mile swim.

Hill work today.  Only 5 hills, but had to work one really hard because two large labs chased me on one.  The dog bite my heal as I kicked up sprinting.  Police cited the owner of dog at large and endanderment.  The police almost shot the dog because it chased them too.  Dumb owner & dog.

Ran 10 miles total.  3 miles around 7:40 pace toward end of run.

Biked a little today pulling a trailer with our 2 yr old in the back.

Played in the pool with the kid too.  I got burned on the back.

Weight training too - upper body and abs.

Ran fairly easy today.  Over-all run was 8:52 pace.  Ran 3 of the miles at a 8:30 pace. 

Biked 18 miles and swam 0.7 miles.  I need to tapper down this week for the BIG run this saturday.

Ran a very easy 4 miles with Cathy.  We walked a lot too!  I am still tappering down for the big run this saturday.  No swimming today or the rest of the week.  I am also biking slow to work.  I just wish I could get more sleep this week.

Ran the Zion Cyn Traverse with Steve Hooper, Clyde, Trutle, Collins, Gary, and Dan.  We started at 5:00 am at the Lee Pass trail head in Kolob Canyon.  That first section was dark for the first few miles, but as the sun began the rise, the beauty of Kolob was revealed.  We resupplied at the Hop Valley trail head (13.5 miles).  We then continued on the connector trail to the Wildcat trail and on to Lava Point (9 miles).  After resuppling again, we started down the West Rim Trail into Zions Canyon country.  This has absolutely beautiful views.  We ended at the Grotto of a time of 9:02:30.  I was pleased since 8 hours would have been a phenomenal pace for me.  I could say I did it in 8.5 hours since the clock was running during my 3 breaks.  The third break was at the spring just before we dropped into the canyon in Zions.

Easy, easy run with Cathy.  We ran and walked through the neighborhood.  We couldn't sleep so we got out very early.  My legs feel really good.  I think it has been the swimming and biking everyday this week.  This is nice to recover so fast from a very long run.

I have been swimming a mile each day this week, so far!

We are in Stafford Virginia for a week visiting Jake and Desha.  Ran with Cathy for the first 5 miles.  Very Hilly and Humid!!  Then after Cathy peetered out I ran another 6 miles of hilly roads.  I don't think they have flat roads here?!

Ran more hilly roads in Stafford Virginia.  This time I did an out and back.  I hope the hills are building some good strength in my legs.

By the way, we have been to Philidelphia, gettysberg, DC smithonians, most of the memorials ( I recomend seeing at night), capital tour, arlington cemetery, white house, and much more!!!

We are home now.  Arrived 2:30 am, got up at 8:30 am and went running.  I felt sluggish but ran really well.  My 4 mile tempo averaged at 7:52.  Whole run was 58:19 with a 2 mile warm up on hills.

Today was difficult to get out the door.  I hit the nooze twice, and when I finally got up, I layed around on the floor attempting to stretch.  Felt sluggish, tired, and sore.  Maybe I shouldn't have swam a mile last night.

I did get out the door and I did my 2 mile warm-up by running for 4 minutes and walking for 1 minute.  After the warm-up, I forced my poor tired body to move a little bit faster.  I walked for a minuter after every mile.  It seemed I was determined to not run very hard today.

Finally, after a few more miles, I picked up the pace to 8:30.  Every hill I tried to stay under a 9:00 pace, and the small hills I did fartleks.  The last mile was a 7:30 pace.  I feel so much better now.  I'm glad I ran.  Ate a bagel with cream cheese and 2 fried eggs.  Later today, the 2 yr old and I are getting a juicy hamberger with fries!

11 miles = 1:39:46 (9:05 pace)

2 mile warm-up = 19:35 (9:48 pace)

Next 9 miles = 1:20:11 (8:55 pace)  walk breaks made the times seem like a slow run.

Good run this morning!!! 2 mile warm-up at a 9:07 pace. Next 5 miles at a 8:04 pace. Total pace for entire run was 8:23.

Swim tonight!!

Speed Work today.  ! mile warm-up run.  Started out easy... 4 400 meter reps at 1:37 each, and a 5th rep of 800 meters at a 3:24 pace.  Recovered after for a 2 mile run at a 8:20 pace.

Had a massage later today... very nice!!!

Tired today... So what do I do?  I start up the biggest hill in the neighborhood.  After running that 1.3 mile hill, it was all easy running the rest of the way home.  The pace for the entire run averaged 8:55.  My pace would have been over 9 but I picked up the pace (8:15) the last 2 miles.

I contibute the speed work tuesday morning and the 18 holes of golf yesterday to my sad and tired state of being today.  I will rest really well for the rest of the week so I can redeem myself on saturday.

Ran 3.5 miles with Cathy and Elijah for a warm-up.  Their pace was 11:07.  Turned around and did 2.5 miles by myself at a 7:55 average pace.  Picked up my brother and a friend and we headed out on a 7 mile jaunt.  First 2 miles was easy and uphill (9:15 pace), then we did a 2 mile pace averaging around 7:15 to 7:30.  Good run and we hit the all-you-can-eat at JB's.  I ate 5 plates of goodies... it all tasted really good today!!!

Going to lounge around the pool eating more good food.  My wife and her brother are cooking a hawaiian meal.... YEAH!!!  Then I may go bike riding tonight.  Shoot for 50 miles, hope for 25!

I thought today would be an easy run.  The first 2 mile warm-up was at a 9:13 pace.  I was actually running an 8:30 pace with walk breaks every four minutes.  I sprinted hard up the last big hill. (7-8 percent grade)

mile 3 was the down hill with a pace of 7:48

mile 4 was flatter with a pace of 7:46

mile 5 was flat (7:39) with a beautiful view of a full moon setting with a sunrise in the opposite sky

mile 6 was flat with a small up at a 7:29 pace

Mile 7 I tried to slow down but only managed to get down to a 8:03 pace.

Great run! Marathon goal pace is still 8:30.  Rode bike to work and planning to swim a mile tonight.

Rode bikes yesterday to In-N-Out.  20 mile round trip ride

Speedwork today... maybe I shouldn't have since I ran such an awesome tempo workout yesterday, but I counldn't resist!!

I ran 6 reps with Cordon, who is also planning to run the St George Marathon. The first 5 reps were 400s and the 6th was an 800 meter.

Rep 1 = 1:43 6:52 pace

Rep 2 = 1.39 6:36 pace

Rep 3 = 1:38 6:32 pace

Rep 4 = 1:37 6:28 pace

Rep 5 = 1:39 6:36 pace

Rep 6 = 3:30 (800) 7:00 pace

Yoga will feel very nice tonight!!!

Biked 20 miles today and attended a sweaty quad busting session of yoga in between my bike ride.  On the way home I stopped at the friendly Jack-in-the-Box for a Jombo Jack, 2 tacos, and a Oreo shake.  When I arrived home, I quickly jumped into my running shoes and sprinted out the door.  I did a good tempo 5K at 21:51 (7:17 pace).  I also had a nice value meal at Carls Jr for lunch.  I was well nourished today!!!

Race Day!!!!  I signed up at the last minute for the Utah Summer Games Triathlon sprint.  Got up at 4:30 am to stretch, hydrate, and eat.  The race was held out at the Sand Hollow Reservoir.  The begining of the race was a little disorganized and the swim was a mass start.  What a mess that was with everyone going into the water at the same time.  We ahd about 250 start at that same time.  I went wide to avoid the hoard.

I finished the swim (16:11 min) and made it through transition in 1:55 minutes.  The bike was a very good day.  I did 14 miles in 39:06 minutes (1:08 transition).  That was then I realized I was in 5 th palce over-all.  The run was very slow but since I really had no one around me, I took it easy (23:45 min).  A few speedsters past me and I didn't try to catch them.  I finished 10th over-all and first in my division.  It was a very good race and nice to finish in the front for a change.

I think the only reason I got ahead was the everyone was jammed up in the swim and I went around the mess.  I swam a longer distance but I got through faster.

I went to In-N-Out and had a double double to celebrate.  Laid around the house for a few hours.  Bought some new running shoes, and then went to Mesquite to an all-you-can-eat sushi bar.  AHHHHH sweet sushi!!!!!

When I got back to St George I felt like I didn't do enough today, so I ran an easy hilly 8 miles at a 8:50 pace.  I was burping wasabi the whole run, but it was still worth it!

Ran  at 4:15am since I had to be at work at 6am.  First 2 miles was slow with walk breaks every 4 minutes.  It took 18:40 to run the first 2 miles. The next 3 miles felt better and I ran the the 3 miles in 24:33 (8:11).  Total run was 43:13 (8:39 pace).

Rode bikes with Cathy to the Pool for laps.  We rode 16 miles and swam 90 laps.

Speedwork day at the track.  I had to go later than I like to.... big mistake.... the place was crowded and no one followed any track etiquette.  So I spent the entire time weaving around everyone from slow walkers to soccer kids.  I did have a good workout with 5 repeats of 400's at 1:36 time, and 2 repeats of 800's at 3:25.  I tried to run an easy cool down mile but ended up running an 8:00 pace.  It felt very easy!

Later, Cathy and I went to yoga class for an hour.  I did a little upper body weight training afterwards, and then walked to Taco bell for an after workout snack.

I started out with a bike ride to work, then off to the pool for laps.  After I swam 1.4 miles (100laps), I rode home.  The total bike miles ended up around 24 miles at 18 mph average.  I then ran a very tired and hungry feeling 10K (54 minutes).  I slept well that night.

Cathy, Elijah, and I ran part of the St George Marathon course today.  I dropped Cathy and Elijah off a mile ahead of me.  They only ran 12 miles.  I started in Dammeron Valley and soon realized my error.  I had the 2 miles of hill to climb right at the beginning of my run. 

The hill was good for me, and it sprinkled a little.  The weather was perfect and the early morning was beautiful.  It took me 19 minutes to get up the hill, then I found my groove, and I felt like I blasted my way down to St George.  It took me 2:13:14 to do my 16 miles.  This averaged out to a 8:20 pace.  This is my goal pace time and my body feels GREAT!!!  I think 3:40 marathon is going to be easy.... yeah!!!

Cathy and I swam and biked a lot of miles this week.  I did just under 4 miles of swiming this week, and biked 66 miles.  I may still get a ride in today!?  I also signed up for the Oceanside California 70.3 Ironman in March 2010.  I am very excited!!!!!

Speedwork at the track. Cordon and I did four 800 meter reps at a 3:30 pace goal. We managed to do just better than that on each rep. (3:29, 3:27, 3:21, 3:25) with 0.75 mile warm up walk and 0.5 warm-up run. Walked 400 meters in between reps and ran a 0.5 cool down run at 4:14 (9:09 pace) It felt easy, but I didn't do more in reps and intensity for fear of injury.

Ran 3 miles with cathy at the nice and early time of 4 am.  We did an easy 3 in 29:50.  I ran another mile in 8:08.  I am a little stiff from speed work yesterday. 

I rode my bike to work, and Cathy and I are going riding this evening.  If I have time I will hit the gym for a little strength training.

After yoga class I jumped on the treadmill to walk a mile while I watched the news about Michael Jackson death today.  Sad!!  I then ran a mini ladder series on the treadmill by starting at a 6.0 mph.  Every 0.2 miles I upped the speed 0.5 mph.  After the 7.5 mph, I slowed it back down to 6.0 and then ramped it up to 8.0 with a 6.0 finish.  I walked 0.5 miles but left in a hurry because some whacked-out lady came in the room, and changed all the channels to MASH.  I told her to leave my TV alone, but she was determined to watch MASH!!!  SHe is mental for sure!!!!  I should have pushed the eject button on her treadmill!  But then I would have felt guilty all night.... glad I just left!

I went home to finish my run.  I ran the trail for 4 miles and back through the neighborhood to get my 5 miles.  My pace averaged out to 8:32.

Ran 12 easy miles with friends on the marathon route.  Walked every mile for about a minute.  Our total average pace was 9:50.  Fun run... nice to take it easy today!  Walked 3 miles towards home after the run since Cathy left me at the finish all alone.  She took me to Alberto's for a breakfast burrito.  She's off the hook!?

Ran at 4 am with Cathy and Elijah. I am spending this whole week taking it easy. We ran 5 miles in 48 minutes. I only swam 36 laps, biked 8 miles in the extreme heat, and did a nice-n-easy upper body work out.

A very easy run with Cathy at 4 am.  Nothing to really say about that.  We did go bike riding for a while in the wind.  And I went to Yoga for an hour.  Easy day!!

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!!!

Cathy and I went for a bike ride this morning to Tuachan. The legs were a little tired from yesterdays long run, but all was good! We averaged 17 to 18 mph over 26.5 miles. 

Later that evening I ran to Cathy's performance.  I did a nice and easy 5 miler of running for 4 minutes and walking for 1 minute.  Average pace was 9:08.

I ran an easy 5 miles (9:27 pace) with Cathy this morning.  The morning temp was finally a little bit cooler.  After we ran back to the house, I sipped a little water, and bolted out the door for a 5K tempo run.  I felt great!!!  I could have ran faster but I was concerned that if I ran too fast after just running a long run Friday, I might injure myself.  My time was 23:45 (7:40 pace).  The half mile hill in the middle of the run slowed me down a little.

Started out easy with 9:12 pace for the first mile.  Slowly increased untill my last half mile was a 7:47 pace.  I just ran to feel good.  Total time was 38:41 (8:36 pace ave).

Speedwork day!!!  I tried something new by adding a 20 minute pre-run workout of plyometrics.  I did a 1 mile warm-up on the track and then went right into the plyometrics.  I was sweating hard after the 20 minute workout.  I then started my 800's on the track with a goal of 3:30 for each 800.  All of my times were averaging around 3:20.  My legs were so tired, I only did 5 reps, and ended with a 1.25 mile cool down.  Going to bed at midnight doesn't help the early morning running!!  I am taking a nap for lunch today.

I am very sore today.  I thought I started out easy on the plyometrics yesterday.  After an hour of yoga class I jumped on the treadmill for 4 miles easy (9:25 pace).  I feel a little better in the legs.  Hopefully by saturday I will be ready for my long run.  When I got home, the kids and I jumped in the pool.  The pool was sooo warm it made the outside St George temperature feel cold.

I wasn't sure if today was going to be a running day. My calves and hams are still very tight from my speedwork last wednesday.  I just figured I would run until I couldn't stands the pain anymore.  I first hit one of my easy loops.  Everything seemed okay so I ventured onto my next favorite and longer running loop.  Had to stop to fix my toes on the right foot.  I pulled my sock on too tight and the two middle toes were rubbing holes in each other.  The pain went away after I made a better adjustment to the sock.  The blood will leave a stain in my new shoes.  The mark of battle wounds!!!

After I finished my second loop, I figured I would keep going since 11 miles is hardly a long run.  I did a wide course around the neighborhood and ended at 13.5 miles with a time of 1:53:47 (8:25 pace).  Not bad for tight muscles!  I need to run a half marathon race.  I think I can show a significant improvement from my last PR (1:48).  My last half was in November 08 at the Snow Cyn Half.  I threw-up at the finish line... heehee!!

I will try to get out later today on the bike.  The weather in St George lately has been unseasonable cool for this time of year... YEAH!!!

St George is finally cooling down.  At 4am the outside temp was 60 degress and along the river it was noticeably cooler... nice!!!  I ran a 3.5 mile warm-up around bloomington in 30:53 minutes (8:50 pace), and after I crest the tonaquint hill I picked up the pace.  My next 5 miles ended up being a tempo run of 8:07 pace.  Over-all, the run was 1:11:28 at a 8:25 pace. 8:30 pace is my marathon goal pace for the up coming St George Marathon.

This evening I did upper body weight training and attended a kick butt cardio/spin class.

I ran uphill both ways today. Last nights workout really left the legs numb. It probably didn't help that I started on a hill and finished on a hill. Over-all the run was easy and I averaged a 8:45 pace.

Went to yoga class tonight! 

Didn't run today.  I decided to ride my bike.  When I left the house, I wasn't exactly sure were I was going.  Almost crashed in a few intersections because I was so indecisive. I finally headed north towards Ivins and then over to Gunlock.  I was going to turn around at Gunlock so I didn't have to climb the big hill that everyone has nicknamed "The Wall".  But I went for it anyways.  That hill was a beast!!! 

I stopped in Veyo for a 64 oz poweraide drink and 4 peanut butter cups.  I didn't bring anything with me for the ride except for a credit card and cell phone.  After my drink I headed back for St George.  The 64 oz drink was obviously not enough because I was very thirsty by the time I got to the top of the Veyo hill ( 2 miles later).  Oh well, it was all down hill from there. 

My total time was 3 hours and 22 minutes.  Not bad for a newbe and big climbs!

I am very surprised that I am not sore or tired from my hard bike workout yesterday evening. Also, I didn't sleep last night either. After staring at the ceiling for 4 hours, I got up and had a hugh bowl of bread and milk. I think I squeezed in a nap between the hours of 4 and 5 am.

After work I headed over to the Rec Center for yoga class. But first I jumped on the treadmill and ran an easy 3.3 miles. I threw in one interval were I increased my speed up to a 7:00 pace. But I didn't pay too much attention to the clock, so I may have averaged a 9:00 pace, maybe?

Yoga class was perfect. She did all of my favorite poses and we held the positions for long counts. Triangle and pigeon pose are my favorites!!

After Yoga I headed over to the friendly neighborhood Del Taco... awesome!!! I had a macho burrito and a macho drink, with a coupon for both, which came out to an awesome deal and an awesome meal too!!!

Went home and ran 3 more easy miles with my 16 yr old daughter. I took no watch or GPS, we just had a nice, fun run together.

Race Day!!  Pine Valley 15 miler.  Very hilly and the course was out and back.  Every hill I screamed down, I was silently crying because I knew I would have to climb back up that hill on the way back.

I did an easy 1 mile warm-up right before the race started.  Over-all a good training run with speed work on the downhills and strength work on the uphills.  I was second in my age division.  I may have been first if I wasn't such a wimp on the way back.  I was thinking more about my long run next week.  Is that selfish of me to hold back on a race so I can run next week?  LOL!!!

All 4 of us placed in our divisions.  The Fords cleaned house today.  Cathy and Elijah were first in theirs and Josh and I were second.  I was 10th over-all.  All of also won something in the raffles.  I won a box of gue, and the others won massages and cash discounts at the running store.

Easy run this morning. Legs are slightly sore, but no pain from running on them this morning. I took it very easy... my pace averaged at 8:46.

Came home for lunch, but first I did a quick upper body strength training.  5 sets, 10 reps of chest, back, shoulders, triceps, and biceps.  I took 30 second rests between sets and 1 minute rest between muscle groups.  Jumped in the pool with the kids for a cool down.  Had a turkey sandwich with spicy mustard and cheese.  Then some cookies and milk.  I went back to work.

After work I jumped on my bike with only my tri gear and googles in the seat bag and I was off to the city pool.  It is uphill, windy, and 100 degrees on the way there.  I swam 40 laps, and then I jumped back on my bike and headed home.  Triceps are sore!!!!  Go figure!?!?!

I am going to have some more cookies and milk before bed!!!

I didn't think I was going to get out today.  After scouts, I came home and I needed a run.  I decided to try out my new running flats.  I like them!!!!  Maybe it was all in my head, but I felt light on the foot and unrestricted.  I did a tempo run down the virgin river trail from Manowar to the Dixie Ctr.  My first split (3.1 miles) was 23:55.  On the way back, my second split was 23:34.  I was only faster on the second split because I knew I didn't have to conserve energy for another run.  This run is equivalent to my 10K pace (7:40-7:45).  I bet I can run a 10K a lot faster than this.

When I came home I jumped in the pool for a cool down.  Then I turned on my new p90x program and tried out the yoga x.  I liked that too!!!  Most of the moves and positions were fairly easy.  In the future, I will do the advanced positions so I can really sweat.  Don't get me wrong, I was sweating like a pig during the p90x.  I just like to push yoga as far as I can.

Met up with the St George Tri club for a swim anf bike ride at Sand Hollow Resevoir.  Swam 0.7 miles and biked 15 miles up the big hill and back.

Easy run on the treadmill before yoga class.  35:15 time (8:36 pace)

Midnight run!!!  I went with Cathy to her Tuachan rehearsal and planned to run home at midnight.  I just ran comfortable with the gramin clocking miles and time.  It was a beautiful night and all downhill.  I ran 7 miles and decided that I wanted to run long saturday.  I walked another mile until Cathy found mew on her way home.  It was past 1:30 am when she found me.  My run time was 59 minutes. (8:12 pace)

Ran the St George Marathon route this morning.  A lot of other runners out as well!  The SG tri club invited me to run with them.  That was perfect because I needed the ride up the highway.  Thanks guys!!!

I ran with a group that was doing the Jeff Galloway method.  That was perfect since I was a little sore and tired this week.  We ran 4 minutes, walked 1 minute.  Our running pace was between 7:30 to 8:30.  The total time was 2 hr and 54 minutes (9:10 pace).  I meet up with old friends from Cedar City and we spent the entire 3 hours getting reacquainted.  The time flew by on our run.  Thanks Adam and Colleen for the excellent run!!!

I stopped at the best mexican resturant for a breakfast burrito and I drank 5 diet pepsi's.  A perfect ending to a perfect run!

I rode my bike to Tuachan this afternoon.  It was all uphill for 13.65 miles.  My time was 48:09 for an average speed of 17.0 mph.  I was then held up for a rain storm.  After 2 hours, I headed home with a time of 35:45 for an average speed of 22.9 mph.  Total time 1:24 with an average speed of 19.5 mph. Just in time too... it's raining again!

Cathy and I left at 6am to do an easy 5 miler (9:30 pace). We did her walk breaks which was probably a good thing for me and we threw in a couple long fartleks. I felt leg heavy after last weekends running and biking. After I dropped Cathy off at the house I did 2.1 miles at 7:30 pace. Felt easy and I feel good!

Swam 0.75 miles of open water this evening at Sand Hollow Reservoir. I figured I did more but I have no way of measuring and I forgot my watch. The kids had a great time playing on the beach and rocks. The 4 yr old kept swimming out to deep water.... dingleling kid!!!

Tempo work today.  I did a 2 mile warm-up at 17:55 (8:58 pace) lots of uphill.  Ran the 5 mile tempo at 38:43 (7:45 pace) gradual down/flat.  1 mile cool down at 8:35.  Over-all average pace was 8:10.  Not bad for an old, fat guy trying for a 3:40 marathon goal pace in October.

Met up with the St George Tri-Club tonight out at Sand Hollow Reservoir.  I did a total of 0.9 mile swim.  I did a 0.4 mile warm-up with Cathy without the wetsuit.  It took us about 20 minutes to complete the distance.  That was her first time swimming a long distance in open water.  She was disoriented the entire time.  She may have swam more distance than me if you count all the circles she did around me... :)  When the club showed up, I joined the group that did the 0.5 mile loop.  My time was 13:48.  My goal is 0.5 mile in 10:00.

We then jumped on our bikes and completed the sprint section of the triathlon course (12 miles).  I forgot to time it, but I did get my time on the way back of approximately 17 minutes.  I figured I did the distance around my standard race time of 35-36 minutes.

I then jumped into my running shoes and did the dam trail.  The distance is 1.1 miles across.  My time was 8:30 across and 8:09 back with an average pace of 7:35.

Went to Del Taco afterwards.... :) :) :)

Ran 5 miles at a comfortable pace (8:21 average).  Nothing exciting except I got up an hour earlier and did a p90x workout first.  Core synergistics was the luck workout for the morning.  That made the run a little more challenging.  I was tired all day!

I slacked on running at the end of last week.  Did some swimming at the lake and biked!  Saturday I had a great 1 mile swim in 29:55 minutes.  Then we rode to Zion's and back with an average speed above 19 mph.

AM

Ran up brigham rd and around through bloominton hills. Picked up the virgin river trail and on to home. The 4th mile tempo at 7:15 pace. Total time 1:15 (8:26 pace) Cathy and I went to JB's for breakfast.

PM

Meet up with the triclub at Sand Hollow Reservoir. Swam 1 mile and biked 12+ miles.

Where to start and What to write.  First off this all started with the 9 (Aaron Mettler, Me, Karen and Kelly Lyman, Lacy and Josh, Kelly H., Cedric, and Kaylee) of the 12 runners going up Thursday the night before to sleep at the start in Brianhead, UT.  It was very cold up there and no one slept... of-course!!!  Our starting placement was 6am.  The first runner(Lacy) rode the ski lift up to the top of the mountain in the dark, and then ran down a rocky trail back to the venue, in the dark, to make her first hand off to Kelly H at leg 2.  We circled around the Brianhead area on back roads and then headed south through Cedar Breaks national park.

I ran my first leg (#6) at the junction of Hwy 14 and the turn off back to Cedar Breaks.  I dropped from 10000 feet to 8200 feet in 7 miles.  I flew down this mountain!  When we hit the bottom of the mtn near Cedar City, we headed back up the mountain towards Kolob reservoir.  The climb back up was hellacious and took 3 different running legs to get back up to the top.  Good Job Cedric, Karen and Kelly!!!!  I then ran the 12th leg (8 miles) that did a little more climbing up 9200 feet and then plunged down to Kolob Reservoir.  I was really sucking air at these high elevations.  Our other 3 runners (Amy, Ross and Josh Decker) were there to join us for the rest of our race.

We ran down through the west side of Zion's park over to rockville.  We turned around and headed towards St George.  After we past through Hurricane, UT the clouds moved in and we had a spectacular lightning show around us.  We arrived in the St George area around 1 am Saturday.  We ran through town and headed up towards Gunlock, UT.  The rain started at this point.  I picked up my 3rd and final leg from Santa Clara to Shivwits.  This leg the weather let loose on me.  The down pour was so heavy that I couldn't see the road and the rain stung my face.  I counted 5 lightning burst that hit in my local area.  I was afraid I was going to get struck!  This leg was #28 and I had 4 miles of rolling hills and a 1 mile uphill.  I was so jazzed when I finished that run.  I think it was the combination of the rain, lightning and sleep deprivation that kept me going.  I had not slept yet at this point since thursday morning.

We ran up over Gunlock and over to Veyo.  Kelly and Karen Lyman ran the next big hills.  I don't know how they ran the worst legs of this relay.  I paced a little for some of the girls that had to run at night.  Over-all I ran a total of 22 miles.  We finished just after Snow cyn on saturday around 9am with a time of 27 hours.  We were the second team to finish.  The first team finished in 24 hrs and the team after us finished a little more than 24 hrs.  I figure we will be somewhere around 10-15th place out of 60 teams.  I will gets the details later. 

I slept till 4pm today.  I hope I sleep tonight.

Elijah And I were just going out for an easy run since I was still a little tight from my race last weekend.  We started out slow, but picked it up after we were warmed up.  Stopped at a couple pull-up bars along the trail and worked on my pull-ups... wow... I suck at pull-ups!!!

We finished with a 7:15 for the last mile, and then we sprinted the last 0.15 home.  Elijah kicked my can... fast kid!!!  Our over-all pace was 7:53 average.

I walked 2 miles with Cathy before the run.  She is hoping to resume running this weekend.

PM

P90X - Ab ripperx and upper body pull-ups, push-ups, bar & chair dips, and bicep dumbbells.

Ran the treadmill after yoga class.  Averaged an 8:30 pace.  Arms, shoulders and core is a little sore from yesterday.

Started with a 2 mile warm-up (18:34 @ 9:17 pace).  4 mile tempo at 30:21 with 7:36 pace.  1.2 mile cool down at 8:35 pace.

Swam at the lake in the evening.  Water was very choppy and I forgot my wetsuit.  That was a good training swim for 0.75 mile in 28 minutes.  Rode bikes after swim for 15 miles.  Top speed down the big hill was 49.1 mph.  Total bike time was 50:55.  First half of ride was uphill and against the wind.  But the way back was a lot of fun in 19 minutes.

Only ran a mile.  I have developed plantar fasciitis in my right foot....... :(  :(

It is very nice to be running again. I did 3 easy miles on the treadmill at a 10:00 pace. My right foot felt great. I will try another run this friday or saturday.

The last 2 weeks I have been swimming, biking, and working out to p90x.  Last saturday I did my first open water swimming race.  I was the 6th over-all finisher with a time of 21:40 for the mile.  I finished in a group of four and our times were only off by tenths of a second.  I was the last of the 4 to go through the finishers gate.  The first finisher was only a minute ahead.  Her name was Dawn Lee.  Good swimmer!!!

Ran another 3 miles on the treadmill.  Half mile warm-up walk and a half mile cool down walk.  I ran the 3 miles a little faster than tuesday (9:20 pace).

I did the P90X ab ripper when I got home. 

Now I'm off to see Cathy's play at Tuacahn.

Ran a nice-N-easy run with the girls today along the Virgin River Trail.  Average pace was 10:00.  My last mile was under a 8:00 pace.  Katie put kinesio tape on my plantars foot.  That really helped a lot!!  I just looked a little gay with pink tape running up my right leg.  I ran to the store later and bought black tape for the marathon.  I guess I am not in touch with my feminine side just yet!!

I hope to do a P90X session, and bike ride later today.  We are also doing a midnight hike in Zion's.  We will either climb Angles landing or Observation Point.

This was a test run to see if my sore foot and ankle can handle a run.  I didn't feel a thing.

Well... I decided to go for it today and run the 3:40 goal.  Foot and ankle held up for most of the race..  Last 5 miles were a challenge to say the least.  I finished almost 3 minutes faster than my goal and did a negative split by over a minute.  Cathy did very well with a 4:10.  Her goal was 4:30.  Elijah (11 yr old) got 5th in his division with 4:21.  We all did exceptional today.  I had a massage later that day... nice! I won it at the expo.

I ran 2 miles easy on the treadmill before yoga class.  A few little aches and pains, but over-all I feel great!  This week so far has been a recovery week.  I have done some upper body weight training, attended a couple yoga classes, and done some p90x abripper.  I hope to start running more next week.  I just want to make sure I heal before I abuse myself some more... :)

Easy recovery run.  Ran first mile with Haylee, my 9 yr old at a 11:06 time.  Mile 2 = 8:52  mile 3 = 8:46  mile 4 = 8:22  mile 5 = 7:52

I did 10 reps of pull-ups at the end of mile 2, 3, & 4.  Body feels good and only a little pain in ankle.

Biked 57 miles around the Gunlock loop this morning.  Nice N Easy ride 3:30:00

I went out for a feel easy run.  I may have ran it faster than I wanted to.  Average pace was 7:55.  I probably will not run the rest of the week since I have 100 mile bike ride on Saturday.

Cathy and I started at 5am with an easy run with walk breaks after every 5 minutes of running. We then did P90X legs & back right after the run. Then we did abripper at the end. I think I will feel this one for a day or two!!!

Ran an easy 10:00 pace on the treadmill. My legs are sore from yesterdays P90X legs&back workout.  The run took the pain away momentarily!!! I did Kenpo P90X today.  That was awkward!!

Good run today. I ran the bloomington hills loop. This has many hills of large and small variety. I measured the run in 3 laps. Lap 1 was the first 3.5 miles with an ave pace of 8:28. Lots of uphills the first lap. Lap 2 was the next 3.5 miles with an ave pace of 8:06. The ground was more flat or downhill. The last mile was suppose to be a cool down. Well... I cool downed with a 7:45 pace. I iced the right foot and ankle after the run. It's getting better!

Morning workout was P90X plyometrics for one hour. Excellent workout!!!

Ran a good 10k today.  I know I could have ran faster, but this was still a good run.  My average pace was 7:23.  The first 2 miles was hilly and the rest flat.  Weather was perfect!!!

Cathy, Josh, And Elijah ran the 10K too.  They all PR and placed.  Britnee and Haylee ran the 5k.  Britnee finished first in her age group.

Ran home from the race as a cool down at a 9:00 pace.  We were almost run down by a car in the crosswalk.  I caught up to the jerk at the Wal-mart.  I gave him a good tounge lashing, and he apoligized.  He was lucky I was in a good mood!!

I did P90X yoga this afternoon.  That felt really good!!!  Then Cathy and I rode an easy 21 mile bike ride on mostly level path.  Our average speed was 16 mph.

This easy run turned into a long hill and a tempo on the return.  I was in SLC for meetings and after the day of fun from sitting on my butt all day, I thought it would be fun to run up State Street.  The hill to the Capital and beyond was tough. I ran up/down gravity hill. This was interesting, even though I KNEW I was running downhill, the perception of running uphill made that portion of the run harder.  I then ran down through Memorial Park and back down State. Total time was 52 minutes.

I did P90X in my hotel room, legs&back abd abripper.

Ran an easy distance at lunch from work to home.  Very windy and cold today.  My pace averaged an 8:24.  Did P90X after work arms&shoulders and ab ripper.  Nice workout!!!

Pushed it after the first 2 mile pace of 8:21. The next mile ran an average pace of 8:00. Then the last 1.5 miles I pushed a 7:30 average pace. Good run!! The days are warming up again too!

I did P90x Plyometrics this morning. I made it a tough workout. My ankles hurt.

Ran in San Diego. I love running at sea level!!! I would have ran further but Cathy was waiting at the hotel so we could go home. My average pace was 8:00.

Ran most of the run was at 4 minute intervals with 1 minute walk breaks in between.  Running pace was an 8:00 average.  Ran mile 5 at a 7:30 pace with no walk breaks.  I need to slow down this week for the snow cyn half marathon this saturday.  This workout seem to slow me down a little.

P90X is going really well!! I workout every day.  It gets easier!!!!  Today will be yoga.  recovery week

Ran without watching the garmin. Total time 42:40, and the Average pace 8:32. The 1 mile splits were 9:05, 8:52, 8:25, 8:05, 8:05. Cold morning!!!

I did P90X Kenpo, Spin Class, & 1 mile swim in the pool.

Another PR race for me... Yeah!!  The last 5 weeks have resulted in 3 PR races, the St George Marathon, Save-a-Sister 10K, and the Snow Cyn half-marathon.  I did this race with walk breaks to see if my time could improve and also to save myself so I can run the Mesquite Marathon in 2 weeks.  I beat my last PR by almost 4 minutes!  I'm a believer in walk breaks!!  The weather was perfect and Snow Cyn was absolutely beautiful!!!

Splits:

Mile1 = 7:19  STEEP down hill... I had the breaks on!

Mile 2 = 7:15 Still STEEP!!!

Mile 3 = 7:56 Rolling hills, mostly down, first walk break

Mile 4 = 8:06 mile 4 thru 7 was an out and back, 1 walk break

Mile 5 = 8:15 1 walk break

Mile 6 = 7:34 no walk break (downhill)

Mile 7 = 8:03 1 walk break

Mile 8 = 7:44 no walk break

Mile 9 = 7:49 1 walk break

Mile 10 = 7:56 1 walk break

Mile 11 = 8:04 1 walk break

Mile 12 = 7:48 no walk break

Mile 13 = 7:30 no walk break

Miles 10 thru 12 was rolling hills.  I didn't take a walk break if there was a lot of downhill during that mile.

Ran a very easy run with Britnee and Elijah.  They want to run the St George Half-Marathon in January and I was recoverying from my race last Saturday.  We ran from our house to the opera house on Main Street.  We walked the 5th mile.  Britnee seemed very pleased that she ran 4 miles.

Cathy, Josh, Elijah, and I went down to Mesquite, Nevada to run the hilly portion of the Mesquite Marathon course. There were some steep climbs in there!!!

We ran 5 min and walked 1 min. I did that for 7 miles with them, then I had enough of that and took off. I averaged a 8:00 pace for 3 miles. The uphill portion was more around 8:20, but I made up for it on the downhills.

I did my P90X when we arrived home. Today was Back & Biceps with ab ripper at the end. I do P90X everyday!

Then this evening I went to spin class and the sadist instructor made us do a full class of ladders. I was soaked with sweat and the puddle underneath me was expanding out to the other riders. Lots of ewws!!! I rang out my clothes in the lockroom.

3.1 miles on treadmill... 9:02 pace

Yoga class after my run.

Shaq Tri team relay today.  I did the bike part at 20.4 mph ave, second overall on the bike.  Our team came in first place.

Ran home after the race for 9 miles = 8:04 pace ave.  First 8 miles was around a 7:55 ave pace.  Last mile was a cool down mile at 9:30 pace.

Easy run with a stop watch. Pace was averaging about 8:50. The run was all uphill to the rec center. Attended yoga class for a hour.

Tried to help a friend run a sub-4 hr race.  She gave up so I ran the rest of the way in at 8:30 pace.  Difficult course, but nwxt time I will run my race.  Still had fun!!  Good training run!!!

Ran early this morning so I could avoid doing P90X for one more day. I was greatly surprised that I could run with comfort after a finishing a marathon 2 days ago. I didn't have a garmin or stop watch, but I was gone for a little over 30 min.

Swam 90 lengths (1.3 miles) in pool this evening.  Felt very good!!

Must be getting too cold to run in the mornings. Lunchtime run of 5.2 miles in 41 minutes. Felt good... I feel good!

Rode bike to work... burrrr!!! The thermometer said 25 degrees. That can't be right!?

Yoga class tonight!

Visiting Cathys family in AZ for Thanksgiving.  We are up at Cathy's brothers house in Queen Creek.  Went for a easy run.  The terrain is flat and plenty of wind to make me wonder why I even ran.  I ran up Sossaman to the mountain and back.  My split back was faster with head wind.  There must have been a slight downhill coming back.

Split 1 = 3.25 miles @ 27:29 min (8:28 pace)

Split 2 = 3.25 miles @ 25:51 min (7:57 pace)

No sign of Burt!

An easy run with cathy after we did P90X Kenpo for an hour.  We did her pace (9:34)

No sign of Burt!!

We got up early and ran 7 miles for Britnee. That was her long run distance today. We ran her pace and that was tough!! Our pace was 10:55 with lots of walk breaks!!! I think running slow makes me sore!!! That was the furthest Britnee has ever ran... Good for her!!! Later that day I did P90X Back & Legs, ab ripper, and then ran 3 more miles at a 8:17 pace. First mile was a 9:00 pace warm-up. Queen Creek is so flat and the wind was hounding me again. Still no signs of Burt. But I heard he was one street over from us on our morning run with our daughter.

Evening run from home to the rec ctr for yoga class.  Average Pace 8:40

P90X plyometrics for lunch.

Cathy and I ran with jeremy, adriann, aaron and leone.  Started on foremaster, a steep hill, and did a loop oround the trail system.  We started at 5 am and wow... it was cold!!! My thermometer read 23 degrees.  That's cold for St George!!! I am finally turning into a softy! A fun run with a great group!!!

Did P90X yoga this evening.  I am sore from yesterdays P90X workout, back & biceps.

Trail run with Jeremy, Adrian, and Mark.  Took it easy with a time of 3:05.  Then I jumped on my bike and rode to Hurricane and back (50 miles). 

I ran the tonaquint loop the other way.  So I ran slight uphill for most of it and bolted down the steep hills the last 2 miles.  Most of the run was an 8:30 pace and the 2 miles down averaged 7:30 pace.  It was also a rainy run... Yeah!!! I love running in the rain.  I used a clear, light-weight poncho that really worked well.  The only drawback was that the poncho turned into a parachute in the wind.  I consider that more bang for the workout miles!

Swam 0.7 miles at the pool

I got out late today to run.  Left work at 4pm and hurried into my running shoes.  I hit brigham road going east, negotiated the round-about construction, and up the hill I went at a good pace.  I ran to the end of Brigham Rd, turned left on River Rd, and did the big loop around Bloomington Hills.  By this time I was running pretty easy through rolling terrain. I circled over to the virgin river and took the path back to Bloomington.  My total time was 1:21:07 at an 8:07 ave pace.  The sun went down half way through my run and the wind made it a bitter cold!!  The hills and moutains around St George are coated white from last nights snow storm.  Anyways.... by mile 8 I felt I could run all night!!!

My splits are 8:20, 8:27(big hill), 8:08, 7:51, 8:49(walk to fit gear), 7:55, 7:59, 7:49, 7:35, & 8:10.

Did P90X yoga 2 hours after my run.  That was a nice recovery!

I just ran another comfortable run. It all seemed to go faster uphill than when I was running on the flats. I started with the bloomington loop, took tonaquint hill over to hilton dr, ran up the trail to bluff, down bluff to convention dr, picked up the virgin river trail back to bloomington, and on to home.

Splits: 8:37, 8:21, 8:12(tonaquint hill), 8:00, 7:42, 7:59(run up to bluff on trail), 7:39, 7:51, 7:57, and 7:45 (slightly uphill with a push for a strong finish).

I ran twice today.  I first did a morning run alone in a snow storm.  This was the warmest day of the week too!  I ran to Sun River, did the loop through the community and ran home for 9 miles.  I forgot how hilly the roads are in sun river.  1 Mile Splits: 9:18, 8:57, 8:32, 8:25, 8:23, 8:16, 8:23, 8:25, and 8:45.  I tried to run slower... :)

I then ran with my 16 yr old daughter this evening.  Scott Hughes stopped and talked to us on our first mile.  We have been running into each other all week.  It was sprinkling at this time.  She had to do her 6 miles for her training.  So we ran an easy pace with a 1 minute walk break every mile.  We ran up to the Dixie Center and back on the Virgin River trail.  The last mile I challenged her to finish this run in under an hour.  She did it!  Our splits were 10:06, 10:27, 10:20, 10:02, 9:55, and 8:24.  I ran in my sauna poncho again... I was toasty warm during the whole run... :)

I ran what I call the tonaquint loop. I headed up the virgin river trail to the dixie ctr, west on hilton, up tonaquint, and back over to the bloomington ranches. I usually run it in the other direction so I can get the big hill out of the way early and the rest of the run is an easy downhill. I realized that after my first mile I needed the restroom, so I went the shorter distance to the park which is running the loop in the opposite direction.

My right shin started giving me troubles during the 2nd mile and I had to walk twice to relieve the pain. I hurried the 3rd mile in pain because I needed that restroom in a bad way!!!! When I was back on the run the pain in my leg was gone but I took it easy for the next 2 miles since I wasn't sure if the shin was going to continue to act up.

The last 2 miles was an almost all out sprint home. I ran faster the last mile and I had to climb uphill to the ranches... :) Cathy called me to chew me out for ignoring her. She appearently gave me a "Hey Baby" when she pasted me in her car. Well... I had to let her know that the guy she cat-called was not me. heehee!!! I was on a different road.

1 Mile Splits: 8:26, 9:33, 8:34, restroom break, 8:28 (uphill), 8:22 (uphill), 7:08, & 7:05.

I did P90X this morning; chest & back, and ab ripper.  I hope to swim tonight.

Started the day at 5:30am with P90X Plyometrics for an hour.  Killer workout!!! Then I did an easy 2 mile run in the cold (29 degrees).

After work I ran to the Rec Ctr for my yoga class.  The outside temperature was a perfect 45 degrees.  I took the virgin river trail, and then up to the top of main street.  I should run main street more often so I can remember the steepness of that last mile.  Ran back down to SG Blvd and then ran up to 600 east and down to the rec ctr.  Even that small part of sg blvd is a good climb!  Total mileage was 7.25 at an ave pace of 8:31.  This was suppose to be an easy run so I can do speed work on thursday.  Good luck with that!!!

1 mile splits: 8:49, 8:42, 8:27, 8:32, 8:32, 8:38, 8:02, and the last 0.25 miles was a 8:02 pace.  First 3 miles was relatively flat, the beginning of mile 4 started the climb to the end of mile 6, and the last 1.25 miles was downhill... :)

Recovery run on TM for 26:20 min.  Average pace = 8:47 (splits 9:03, 8:43, 8:34)

I did P90X shoulders, arms, and ab ripper in the morning.  I hurried to spin class right after work.  Hit the treadmill right after spin.  Then went to the pool and swam 1.1 miles of half drills and the other half of free style.  I am glad I ate a HUGH lunch at Troys BBQ... Yummm!!!  I would not have survived the evening workout.

At 5am I ran with jeremy, adrian, aaron, and mark.  We started on the westside of foremaster hill, went over the hill, picked up the virgin river trail, ran down to the crossing by I-15, circled back through bloomington hills, and back up river road to foremaster.  We took it pretty easy for an average pace of 9:47.  It was freezing this morning (29 degrees) , but colder along the river.  We took many walk breaks so we could regroup.

Yoga class tonight and maybe a few more miles on the TM.

At 5am I ran an easy 13.15 miler with Jeremy, Adrian, Mark, Cathy, Elijah, and Britnee through Ivins and Kayenta.  We did all-you-can-eat sushi for lunch.  This evening I did P90X Kenpo, and then I was out the door for a 5k run.  I warmed up for half mile and cooled down with a half mile easy run and half mile walk.  My 5K splits were 7:03, 7:04, 7:14 and 6:48 pace on the last 0.1 mile.  My last 1.1 mile would have been around a 7:30 pace, but a dog chased me for last 0.4 mile.  Thank you dog for that end of my run boost!

Started the day with P90X chest, shoulders, & tricep.  I did most of the ab ripper.  After work I went to spin class(ave 17 mph), ran the treadmill after spin class, and then headed to the pool for a mile and a half swim.

Run splits; 9:08, 8:57, 8:34, 8:34, and 8:20.

Did some hill work this morning.  We started at harmons and ran uphill towards the turkey farm north of st george.  It was all uphill, and then we turned around and ran back to harmons.  After work I did my P90X plyometrics and went to my yoga class.

Ran the St George MArathon route from dammeron valley to the church on bluff street.  Time: 2:01

Swam 40 laps today.

Ran an easy 30 minute run with britnee.  Splits: 10:03, 9:46, 8:33

I did P90X Back & Biceps, and ap ripper before the kids did christmas.

I ran with Britnee for her long run.  We averaged a 9:15 pace when running, but with a walk break every mile, out time was closer to a 10:00 pace.  This was Britnee's farthest distance so far.

I swam 0.6 miles (42 lengths) in the pool.

Speedwork/Track 16X200 1.5 mile warm up with 0.5 miles at a 7:00 pace.  Ran each 200 at a 5:48 pace with a light jog for 200 meters inbetween intervals.  0.5 mile cool down.

P90X Chest, Back, and abripper in the morning and a 1 mile swim after speed work.

Ran easy with jeremy and adrian at 5 am. Went to yoga class in the evening.

A short warm-up before spin class on the TM.  I did 50 minutes of spin class, and then 2300 yds (1.3 miles) in the pool.

Jeremy, Adriane, Phil, and I ran around the City of Washington. Jeremy and Adraine actually met us there by running from their house in Bloomington, and then they ran with us for our hilly 9 miles. I was impressed!! They had to leave around 4 am to meet us on the north end of Washington by 5:30.

I did P90X shoulders, arms, and ab ripper.