Little Buddha

Last run in Wisconsin. I did 11 miles, found a pretty cool wood-chip trail, then did a few more miles out on the road. I'm ready to get back to La Verkin and back to some of my normal routes, mainly ready to be back to my own bed. The vacation has been fun, but the kids have struggled a little getting along with each other. The plane ride home went ok, but the drive to Craig was a struggle, got in at 3:00 am.

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Busy day working here in Colorado on a house my father is remodeling. I did manage a quick 2.5 miles tonight about 9:30 when we finally got home from working.

It will be nice to head for home tomorrow. The vacation has been nice, but a little long.

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Nice to finally be home. I gained 5 pounds on vacation so I'll have some work to do the next few weeks. I'm guessing Chicago Deep Dish Pizza is not on Sasha's approved diet? But the place was great. Anyway after driving for 8 hours today, I was ready for a run tonight. I did 2.5 mile over to Hurricane High to find the track all tore up, looks like they are resurfacing it. I still stuck to my plan and did a 2 mile tempo run. Out in Wisconsin, I really didn't do any workouts at a faster pace, so I just wanted to see how a couple tempo pace miles would feel. Things actually went ok, I ran a two mile tempo in 12:10, so 6:05 pace which felt pretty comfortable. I then did an easy 2.5 miles home.

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Was nice to run in a different pair of shoes. I took my Stratus on vacation as my only pair of trainers.

La Verkin 5K loop with Sunny and pushing Jarren in the stroller. Will run with the club tonight.

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Ran 8.5 miles on the Chuckawalla trail. I really struggle with trails, but we had a good group tonight, so it that made it nice. The pace was slow, but much of the run was done on the trail which made things slower.

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La Verkin 5k loop with Sunny. We ran a little faster than yesterday. Once again we took Jarren in the stroller. After I dropped them off, I did two more easy miles to the bridge and back.

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Hope to get in some more miles tonight.

After spending much of the evening at a family BBQ, I was able to get out and do 5 miles. I ran over to Hurricane and back. Out was in 8:26 pace, coming back the pace was 7:40. I really don't know what to expect with the 10K race tomorrow. I'm mainly running it to get in a good speed workout Before my little vacation my training was going pretty good, but I've slacked off a little the last two weeks, so it will probably show tomorrow or maybe not? I guess we'll just have to see.

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B- bowl of cereal

L-half a peanut butter/honey sandwich, Sun Chips, a can of pop

D-medium size piece of grilled chicken, salad, danish dessert, homemade rootbeer

Ran the Speedster 10K this morning. I really wasn't that pleased with my race, but I guess it was good to get in some faster miles. Especially since I didn't do much over vacation. I did 1.5 miles warm-up when I got there. I wasn't really feeling that great this morning, but as we lined up at the start I figured I would just go out and see how I felt, no real time goals.

1-5:56 pretty fast as I ended up struggling during the middle miles. Aaron took off pretty fast, he was running the 5K, then Dave Holt, and a guy named David Smith? that just moved here were in second and third.

2-6:15 By this point the race is pretty spread out. James Holt is not too far behind me.

3-6:18 I stopped here at the aid station and got some water, James was a little faster with his water and he went ahead of me, which I was fine with. I really wasn't feeling that great and I thought maybe if I have somebody ahead of me to focus on, I won't notice the pain quite as much.

4-6:34 Pretty slow here, but then again I didn't really feel like I was racing, more of just a relaxed tempo run

5-6:34 Another mile, by this point I had passed James back and just focused on getting water at the aid stations to dump over my head, as the temps were already on the rise.

6-6:14 Felt a little faster here

.4-2:30

Ohana

Overall finish was 3rd and 2nd in age group behind Dave. Steve and the St. George Running Center had some nice awards as usual.

After the race I did a 1.5 mile cool-down with Marcie, Dave, Clyde, Aaron and the new guy.

After the awards, Bill and I did a 5.5 mile loop from the park out around Bloomington, then back on the river trail, stopped at the Dixie Center for water, then back to the park. The wildbull really gave me a hard time for my fat gut and love handles when I took my shirt off. Actually, the wildbull is correct in saying I need to lose some weight in that region. I used to have the nickname when I was coaching of Little Budda, and I still feel like that on some days.

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Anyway, when I got home my weight was 145, but I'm going to try to get down to 135-137 by the marathon. I'm going to try to track my diet a little better, maybe here on the blog. Maybe anybody that spends time reading different blogs can give me some encouragement with my diet.

So far today.

B-bowl of oatmeal, water

L-rice bowl with chicken, glass of fruit punch

D-plate of nachos, glass of rootbeer

Tonight I did the La Verkin 5k loop with Sunny and Jarren. We were a bit slower than yesterday, but still not bad. It has just been nice doing some easy miles with Sunny. I was happy to get out tonight and was able to hit 60 miles this week. Next week I am going to work on hitting 70 miles and hopefully have a good performance at the Summer Games 10K on Friday.

B-orange rolls and bacon

D-some thin crust pizza, bowl of salad, ice cream sundae, can of pop.

Snacks- string cheese, popcorn

Today wasn't the best day of eating.  I usually do pretty bad on the weekend, especially Sunday. 

Went and played basketball this morning for over an hour, then I did an easy 2 miles to the fire hydrant and back. Will get in some more miles tonight.

B-bowl of cereal with milk

L-beef taco, black beans, rice, power aid

D-grilled chicken sandwich, cup of chili, power aid

Sunny and I did a loop I'll refer to as the Overlook 5K. Basically left our house, ran down main street, past Farmer's Market, then down through the Overlook Subdivison and back home on 300 West. For some reason we slower than normal. Tomorrow I'm going in for a massage with April. I guess it is the cool thing to do now days. Bill, Marcie, Clyde, and Logan have all gone lately. I'm actually interested to see if she can help me get over some of the hip pain and issues I've been having.

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Two easy miles this morning with Sunny and Jarren in the stroller. I didn't get up and run with Marcie and Bill (sorry guys).

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This afternoon I had a massage with April. It went good, she worked on my calf which she said was a very deep pull. She also said my hip problems, were probably related to too much stress and everything was just centralizing in my quads and hips. She said there were no major knots, just that I needed to reduce my stress level. She said, she thought some of my problems might be more mental than physical (no I'm not joking)

6 more miles tonight. I did 4 on the treadmill while watching the Lakers/Celtics game, then ran 2 with Sunny and Jarren.

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B-bananna

L- pasta, slice of pizza, 1 breadstick, gatorade

D- BBQ sandwich, watermelon, piece of cake and some ice cream (went to a party)

Steve Hooper called me earlier today and asked if I felt up to doing a longer run with him from Hurricane over to Washington. I figured since I missed the run with Marcie and Bill earlier in the week, maybe I should give this run a try. We met up at Hurricane High about 7:30 and the run started out really good. We hit some decent miles cruising along state road 9 and even out by Sand Hollow we still were running strong. Both of us struggled a little once we started coming into Washington. Steve had some stomach issues and my hips were bothering me as usual. Still it was a nice long run, something I haven't done in quite some time. The temperature was nice and it was good to visit with Steve and run a route I've never been on before. I'm just a little worried about my legs and hips being ready for the Utah Summer Games 10K on Friday. I'm planning on taking it real easy on Thursday and probably won't be at running club.

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B- 2 orange rolls, glass of passion fruit juice (my favorite)

L- bean burrito, taco, lemonade

D- protein shake after the run, glass of chocolate milk, gatorade

2:00 am an assortment of all kinds of things, I was starving.

Weight earlier this evening was 145 lbs

Easy 3 mile run with Sunny and Jarren. Went over and talked to Joel Timo for a bit, should be starting on the pool in the next few weeks. Then we ran down Main Street and down to Pah Tempe, then up Pah Tempe hill pushing the stroller.

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3 more miles tonight did the La Verkin 5K loop with Sunny and Jarren. It has been nice doing some easy runs with them. I really don't know what to expect tomorrow in the Summer Games 10K. I don't feel like I'm as fast as last year, so it will be interesting to see.

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B-cereal

L-Classic Italian on wheat from Quizno's, lemonade

D-spaghetti

Not a very good race for me this morning. I didn't feel that great when I got up, but figured I should run the even, since I had paid for it already. Bill and Robin picked me up and I slept most of the way to Cedar in the car. Didn't feel much better on the bus ride up to the start. Did close to a mile warm-up then the race started.

1-5:29 Started out slower than most of the guys I should have been running with and was never able to catch back up.

2-5:29 Did pass a few people this mile, but pretty much run most of this race alone.

3-5:41 Hips starting to feel tight and legs a little tired.

5K split 17:07

4-5:41 Just coasting along, not really feeling that great

5-5:48

6-5:44 Felt a little better this last mile

.02- 59.50

Overall time was 34:53 (5:36 pace) so quite a bit slower than last year, but the race distance was more accurate this year.

Anyway, not really that pleased with the race, but I figured going in I wasn't in as good as shape as last year. It may not have helped that I did the 18.5 mile run Wednesday night with Steve. I think that might have taken a little out of my legs, anyway no big deal. Hopefully, I can run some decent legs next week during Wasatch Back.

Speedstar

.3 mile running around scout camp

B-oatmeal

L-Hamburger, Fries

D-2 Hot Dogs, chips, Power Aid with the Scouts 

9 very, very slow miles in the heat of the day. Got home from camping with the scouts, then went and set out flags for flag day, then feed the scouts breakfast. When I was finally able to get my run in it was already very hot out. Ran over to Sky Mountain Golf Course, then back through Hurricane. Stopped numerous times for water.

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La Verkin 5K loop with Sunny and Jarren in the stroller. Nice and easy. I got pretty burnt on my run this afternoon.

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My main goal is to break 2:40 this year at St. George and the second goal is for my running to become more enjoyable.

B-1 pancake, watermelon, 3 pieces of bacon, small portion of scrambled eggs

L-1 beef enchilada, black beans, rice from Cafe Rio, Coke

D-Leftovers from Lunch 1 beef enchilada, small portion of beans and rice

B-cereal

D-Homemade Enchiladas, rice, beans, corn, birthday cup-cake

snacks- Popcorn

150 lbs Sunday night weight 

Not the best morning of running, I really didn't even want to get up and do anything, but did manage to force myself through 4 miles. I'm feeling a little sore and stiff, but hopefully things will loosen up as the day goes on.

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Met up with the club tonight and did a 5 mile warm-up then a 2 mile tempo and then a 1.3 mile cool-down down at the Dixie Center. Those guys are all so fast, I got tired just trying to keep up on the warm-up.

1- 5:50 felt good

2-6:20 caught up to Steve Hooper and we coasted it in the second mile.

Still really hot, took it easy on the cool down. Glad I made the effort to drive over for the workout. My two mile tempo a few weeks ago on the track right after vacation was the same time, but my splits were more equal 6:05, 6:05

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Just about didn't make it this morning. I did a run down through Confluence Park, along the Virgin River here in La Verkin. There was a whole crew of horse flies that tried to carry me off. I felt like that kid from Charlie Brown that always had the flies around him. I would speed up and then slow down trying to juke the flies but to no avail. Finally I was able to get back on the pavement and enjoyed the last 2 miles without too many flies. I also had this feeling as I was running that I might see a snake today, and sure enough a long black and white one. I was actually surprised it didn't spook me as much as they usually do.

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Ran up to the substation and back tonight with Sunny. This was the first time she has done this run. The first two miles have some uphill, but then coming back there is some ok downhill. Anyway, I paced Sunny and encouraged her to run the last two miles at a faster than usual pace. I'm going to try to get up a little earlier tomorrow and get in some more miles before it warms up.

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5 easy miles this morning. I went over and measured out a 1000m loop, which I might use later in the summer as a place to do some repeats. Earlier this year, I was doing the repeats on the track, which I didn't mind too much, but right now Hurricane High's Track is all tore up.

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La Verkin 5K loop with Sunny times were pretty slow.

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Nothing exciting 4 miles, we will be leaving this afternoon for Salt Lake and the Wasatch Back Relay tomorrow. I'm pretty excited, I think I will be able to do pretty good on my legs of the relay. I have been a little sore the last few days, but hopefully I will feel ready when I get the baton and it is time to race.

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2 easy miles this morning in Murray.

Got up to Logan and rested for awhile at Katie's parents house, then headed over to Paul's, met up with everyone then off to the starting line.

This year I had a great van and a great experience with WBR.  Paul was our driver, then it went Mitch, Steve Hooper, James Barnes, Me, Chad, Jon.

I did about a mile warm-up before my leg.  I was excited for my leg this year and was interested to see if I would be anywhere close to the times they had predicted for me.  My first leg was leg 4 and it was a moderate 5.1 mile leg.

1-5:49 took off a little fast, probably got too excited.  The temperature was still very hot.

2-6:03 another good mile

3-6:39

4-6:33

5-6:44 a little bit of uphill here and feeling pretty hot

.14- 55

Overall time was 32:45, average pace was 6:23, I was about a minute faster than I was supposed to be, so I felt pretty good about that. 

Took a short ice bath in the canal in Eden, and then got some dinner.

My second leg was at about 1 in the morning.  Right before the exchange I was asking people for directions and by chance I happended to ask my old collage coach at Ricks Doug Stutz for some information.  It was pretty crazy running into him like that.  I knew he was running, but finding people when there are 580 teams is kind of hard.  Anyway fun to visit with him.

2 leg- easy

1-6:02-Felt good and enjoying just passing lots of people.

2-6:02 consistent

.92- 5:39 Still pushing it

17:45 (6:05 pace)

This leg was a little short, but I still think I ran really good.  Once again I was ahead of my predicted time

Now it is off for some rest, even though it is very hard to get any sleep during these types of races.

Final leg- Hard

This leg was a fun leg, even though it was rated as hard, I felt I ran this one pretty good.  Overall I gained 560 ft elevation, so there was a good climb the first two miles

1-7:08 heading up the hill

2-7:11 another mile up hill

3-6:19 Things start to even out, and actually some downhill this mile

4-6:29 Kind of rolling

.92- 5:23 I was really pushing myself here, and ended up losing a little bit of Fazoli's at the exchange

Overall 32:31 (6:37 average)  This was another leg, where I run just a little better than projected so I was happy about that, but more happy just to be done.

At the finish we watched BYU come in.  They brought a really good team this year, and then our first team came in second, followed by our team in third.  I was pleased with the effort of everyone on our team, and I think everyone had a fun time, which was the main goal.

I know this isn't the best race report, but I'm still on vacation and using somebody else's computer, so I can't spend all night reporting or I would.

When we got back to Salt Lake.  Jansen and I went swimming and then I got stung by a huge wasp.  Anyway, my right hand is now about twice the size of my left.

I was hoping to get in some miles here in Salt Lake, but I just got back from the instant care.  It turns out the wasp sting was a little worse than I had expected.  My hand really got swollen last night and it bothered me all day at my class.  Anyway, I had to get two shots and some prescription stuff to help fight off the infection.  I'm not going to run tonight, but maybe tomorrow if the swelling goes down some.  The doctor told me to take it easy and hopefully the medication will kick in soon.  He said most likely the wasp was a yellow jacket which was carrying an infection, which got passed on to me.

Got home from being in Salt Lake for a week for the Wasatch Back and a college class.  The relay was a lot more fun than the class in case you were wondering.  I did an easy 5 miles 2.5 over to Hurricane High and 2.5 miles back.  The time was pretty slow and the weather was hot. 

Cumulus 

8 miles this morning. I ran out to Hurricane Intermediate and back. I felt better this morning than last night, but still some soreness in the legs.

Stratus

Here are a few pictures from my WASP sting! I had to get two shots.

Not a very good run this morning.  I got a later start and the temps were already on the rise.  I did the 8 mile route from my house, over 600 North trail, got a drink at Sky Mountain then finished up at Brentwood Bowling.  Sunny was kind enough to come and pick me up.

Cumulus 

This has been a pretty sorry week. It didn't help getting stung by the wasp and missing two days at the beginning of the week dealing with the infection. Anyway, the last few days have been better, and hopefully going into July I can have 4 good weeks of training. I do know having scout camp next week will make things a little more challenging

This morning, I didn't get up in time to make it over to run with the club. It sounds like they had a good run. I would have probably died. I ended up doing a 10 mile run out to Toquerville and back. I ran out in 40:44 (8:08 pace) and then came back in 38:11 (7:37 pace). Once again got a late start and the temperature was on the rise. One of these mornings I will learn.

Stratus

2 easy miles tonight

*I just went back and was looking over my training, compared to where I was at last year at this time. After my run on Monday, I should be about 100 miles ahead of where I was last year at the end of June. I am pleased about this, especially considering I've had a few injuries this spring. Anyway, I really need to get in some good weeks during July/August/Sept.

Pretty good workout for me this morning. I've been wanting to get back on a better routine of doing 1000m repeats, mile repeats, Pah Tempe Hill repeats, and tempo runs. This morning I woke up at 6, but didn't feel too good, so I went back to sleep. Once 7 rolled around I felt a little better, so I headed out knowing that I wanted to do 1000m repeats on my new course I measured out here in La Verkin, but also knowing that Monday mornings..usually aren't that great as far as running goes. Anyway I did a 2.5 mile warm-up then got into the workout 5x1000m. The goal was to run between 3:33-3:38 which I figured would be close to my CV pace, with 1:30 rest in between each.

1-3:42 (5:57 pace)very first time running this route, so I was trying to figure out the correct pace and pick out landmarks

2-3:34 (5:44 pace) Much better effort here

3-3:35 (5:46 pace) Windy and feeling a little tired

4-3:37 (5:49 pace) Didn't feel good at all on this one

5-3:37 (5:49) Felt better, but figured this would be a good one to finish on.

The goal in the future is to get these times closer to 3:30 (5:38 pace) which I think I can do. 

Did a .5 mile cool down home, then went with Sunny and did the La Verkin 5k loop in 29:56 for more of a cool down.

Good start to the week and happy to get the legs moving.