Ethan Cannon

10 miles on a warm day toward suburban Spanish Fork. A little bumpy ride for my achilles and body, hopefully it will be better tomorrow. 

Achilles felt a little sore at times today. Better at the end.

Still felt some achilles pain, but more toward the beginning of the run than the end which is good. It was a gorgeous day outside! Sunny with crisp cool air. 

It felt great to run about 13 (or more) miles. I am now brushing up with what I might consider to be a short long run. My achilles felt fine for most of the time. I almost changed directions after I was hit by a powerful wind before I even got to the canyon. The wind ended up not being too bad and it was a beautiful morning, even though my hands were freezing. I like the morning of saturday conference long run tradition. I hope to continue it even when I get older. It just feels really good. 

Spring has sprung! It was a beautiful grey morning for a longer run with the flowers and trees blooming. 

Its getting hot outside!! Not in the mornings though!

Achilles felt a little tight today. 

Achilles felt better today! I have a really uncomfortable sore on my foot due to my dry skin. Unfortunately once it becomes an open cut, you can't just apply lotion to it anymore. Sorry that's kind of graphic but it hurt pretty bad when I started running which was quite dissapointing but then it went away (for now) which was a blessing. 

One thing I have learned from the achilles tendon problem is the importance of continung to do all of the work you do when you are injured, other than running. It is easy to slip the mind because I wasn't putting any strain on my achilles when I was using the elliptical. However, I might have avoided hurting myself a little as I have come back from my foot injury (which I can't feel at all anymore) had I been more diligent. Lessons learned I guess. 

I usually dont report a 0 mile day. 

Yesterday the president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Russell M Nelson, called for a worldwide fast to help with the coronavirus. He mentioned that normally people fast two meals, but that you can consider some other sacrifice instead. Immediately after that and for the days leading up to the fast, I thought about running. So I didn’t run on Thursday. I believe that God knows me, He knows how much I love running, and He sees my sacrifice. I believe He will bless us for our efforts to honor Him and petition Him for help. 

Morning run up Hobble Creek. I really hope that some race I run this fall is just super windy and I totally rock it because I am sure getting a lot of practice with windy canyon runs. 

This is probably very innacurate, but I measured my stride length by counting my strides over 1/2 mile. 540 steps, 2640 feet. About 5 feet per step. Of course, the mile markers could have been off. More importantly, I wasn’t running downhill, so those were longer strides. I had estimated 3 feet per step for some reason. Maybe I’ll do that some time on the flat and get soemthing like 4 feet per stride as a more average number. In that case, each mile Would require 1320 steps on average, or 13,200 steps for a 10 miler and about 24,000 steps for a 18 mile long run. I don’t care that much, it’s just interesting.

This was one of the most memorable runs in my life. I saw this cool trail (which I suspected existed) when I did a hike the other day. The trail goes under a power line that runs along the foothills of Mapleton (like the Bonneville shoreline trail). I checked it out today... what an interesting experience. It just kept on going and going. I tried not to get my hopes up that it would. I was perched up in the mountains looking over some cool views, like the windmills, a canyon (with another dirt road I want to try running on), a huge complex of BMX type trails, and more. I even ran past a herd of sheep. Crazy!

My achilles felt quite well today. I did feel a weird pain near the end on the inside upper middle of my right foot, as if it were on the bone. But I'll see how it feels tomorrow.

Cold morning. Nice except for the wind. Even though it was cold, I decided to run in the morning. I hope to always live in a place with a temperate climate where I can run in the mornings for a good chunk of the year. It is just really nice to do that first thing. I think my ideal day would include a longer run in the morning and then a short afternoon run. 

Ran to Springville. I felt really slow (on purpose) but ended up averaging 6:42, which surprised me. 

I realized how much I love morning runs when the forecast called for snow this morning and I was heartbroken. Thankfully it was fine. It looked like a storm was coming as I ran, but it never materialized, and I enjoyed a nice, slow run. 

10 miles, nice and slow. Here is my hypothesis: what if I can run a little slower each day (as in 7-7:30 per mile instead of 6:30-7). I had an amazing workout a few years back the day after I ran with a friend who was slower than me and thereby ensured I ran slow. The other day I was looking at previous training logs, and boy, I can get really beat up during the season. I think I've come to some good conclusions and learning experiences from the injuries I HAVE had, but what about the injuries that I ALMOST had? During the season I often seem to be battling against overdoing it physically and sometimes psychologically. What if I could improve my workouts, peak better, and enjoy running more by eliminating the tiny little bits of "pushing myself" that remain on easy days? For example, if the wind is blowing at me, I can feel comfortable going 8 minute pace. Thats ok! Just an idea. I have been feeling really good recently. 

Note: I don't intend to run slow every day of the offseason. Some days, yes. But this is most important when I am running two hard workouts and a long run each week.

I take it back. TODAY felt like a legit long run, complete with chafing, sore achilles tendons, and hammered knees lol. I worry a little about my fitness. I assume the mile markers are decently accurate and they showed me going like 6:25 pace up the canyon and two steep miles downhill in 5:35 and 5:42. We'll see. It was tiring at times but not ridiculous. Plus, the run went by so quick. 

Super cool morning run! I ran up to the hills to do Bonneville shoreline, Springville edition.  It was a really cool dirt trail looking out over Springville. Couple this and the quietness of it with the fact that it stays in the shade for longer during the summer and I am a big fan. It’s not perfect- it can be very steep at times and often quite rocky. But still nice. 

Achilles felt a little sloopy today so I only ran 10. I’m sure it’s gonna be better tomorrow. Because of my shoulder I can plank or do push-ups! 

11 miles. Achilles felt a little loose still.

Yay for rain!!! Felt pretty good today. I started running up Whiting canyon and eventually turned around and ran through mapleton. I saw like 30 ladies walking or running in groups. I wish they would be better about social distancing.

11 miles. 

I ran up the right fork this time. Wow. It was one of those tiring days where your face is covered with dried mucus, spit, and sweat haha. I felt very tired and am concerned by my level of fitness. One solution I have for this is that I will plan on beginning to run strides next week. That always helps a lot more than you would think it would. 

Bonneville shoreline. I found a new way that isn't quite as steep for part of the way.

This cool canal railroad dirt trail keeps going farther than I thought. I know this now because I ran 11 miles today instead of 10. I also did strides (just three) for the first time. That is the fastest I have made my body go since October. Yay!

Felt a little wank today, but not overly so.

AM: 10 miles

PM: 5 miles and strides in the wake of the storm. I am not super happy about my energy levels, but I am grateful about the health of my achilles tendon and the rest of my body.