Relentless

AM - 26.25 Red Cliffs Desert Reserve - unsuccessful attempt at a traverse.  Just not a very good run today - couldn't find any rhythm or decent feel for running.  Very cold up at the start in Silver Reef - bottles froze, hands froze - made for the first two stops to be way too long to try and break the ice a little and get some hydration.  Had to start in the dark, too; which isn't very conducive to decent running on a trail even with a decent headlamp.  From there on out it was just a bumma run.  Thought for sure I would still break my FKT, but saw that slip away as I was resorting to way too much walking.  So by T-Bone I just decided to call it instead of struggling for 8 more miles.  Good long run though.  (Speedgoat 325)

AM - 5 Twix.  Short walk with Twix and then a very chill recovery run.  Added in Bella Vista to round up to 5.  A lot of achilles pain initially, so I extended the walk a bit to try and work it a little.  Abs.  (Levitate 192)

AM - 3.75 Twix. Short walk in another cold morning and then run with the dog. Abs. (Levitate 195.75)

afternoon - 5.25 PVMS. Down into the middle school neighborhood. Mike “The Essence” Finch and Carson joined us. Always good to chat with the old crew. Striders. HIIT. (Ravenna 401.25)

AM - 4 Twix.  Abs and then a short walk and got into the run.  Feeling pretty decent (better than the dog).  Still a pretty cold chill around.  (Levitate 199.75)

afternoon - 6.75 Trail to Nowhere/River Trail. A little better pace than the last little while - dipped under 7:00 throughout the run. Cadence has been improving a bit - 172 both runs today, and usually right around 170 unless I’m spent. (Peg purple 371)

morning - 12.5 Twix/Little Black Mt.  Short walk with Twix and 2.5 with her around the neighborhood.  Wanted a little different run, so I drove down to Little Black Mountain and hit up the 10 mile loop.  Decided to try and push it a little bit.  Felt pretty good and those ten miles were fairly strong with an ave of around 6:25.  (Peg blue34 112.75)

AM - 4 Twix.  Abs and short walk and run with Twix.  Cloud cover made it warm this morning.  Twix isn't running great right now - really wanting to shut down about 2.5-3 miles into it.  (Levitate 203.75)

afternoon - 9.5 Parkway. Strong run up Washington Parkway with some pickups. (Nike NOP 206.5)

AM - 4 Twix.  Abs and short walk.  Ran reverse direction with Twix to see if she was just in a little funk - she did a little better.  Maybe she is just a little tired or something lately.  (Levitate 207.75)

afternoon - 4.75 DI. Just warmed and cooled with the team around their 6 min test. (Peg grey)

AM - 4 Twix.  New schedule with Pyper starting drivers ed for a month.  Up a bit earlier and then a short walk with Twix and run.  Then to school where I did my HIIT and abs.  (Levitate 211.75)

afternoon - 6 Mustang Pass.  A little trail stuff with the team today.  (Peg green 465.5)

AM - 4 Twix.  Short walk and then a run with Twix.  We are both sluggish right now in the morning.  Abs after.  (Levitate 215.75)

afternoon - 5.75 GS. Easy run up into Green Springs. Ended with 6xStriders. Weights after. (Ravenna 407)

AM - Long walk with Twix. Decided to take morning off for her sake and mine (but later, in the afternoon, my achilles hurt a lot - wonder if the morning run is helpful in keeping it stretched out?). Then abs and a very good batch of yoga. 

afternoon - 8 Panorama/home. Team did their first hill circuit of the year. Want to join them, but achilles just can’t handle the stress. After running back to school, I ran home to get a little more mileage. Risked life and limb with all the traffic. (Peg purple 379)

morning - 14.25 Twix/Fields. Slept in a bit and had breakfast with the girls, so I got out later. About 2.5 with Twix and then down into the Fields. Planned on doing some 1/2 MP stuff (goal pace) just see where I was at. So did 3x10min with 4 min rec. pace was good (6:00). And I was most pleased with the final set because I was able to hit pace with being tired, but not having to kill myself. Maybe I will be able to run a sub 1:20. Slow on the way back outta the Fields though. (Peg blue34 127)

AM - 3.75 Twix.  Short walk and run with Twix.  Maybe we need to wake up like 2 minutes earlier to get that 4 miles in.  Abs after.  (Levitate 219.5)

afternoon - 9.5 Fields.  65min run out into the Fields from school.  Looped around Sullivan with a few pickups.  A bit more sore than I should be.  (Peg purple 388.5)

AM - 4 Twix.  Got a run in the rain after a short walk with Twix.  Even more sore today.  Abs and then weights.  (Levitate 223.5)

AM - Getting sick, so no bueno (that combined with the hard effort Saturday would be a pretty good combo for the legs feeling so tight and dead the last couple days).  Did do abs and took the dog on a pretty long walk.  Passed on HIIT since I'm not feeling well.

afternoon - 5.5 City Creek.  Nice trail after some rain.  Ran with a few different crews.  (Ravenna 412.5)

AM - Long walk with Twix and catching a little extra sleep to beat this cold.  Extra abs and stretching instead of lifting.  

afternoon - 4.25 AC.  30min run out to Starbucks.  The root beer mile was after and we were blessed with a record breaking amount of puking.  (Peg NOP 210.75)

AM - still no morning runs for me.  Long walk with Twix and then abs and yoga.

afternoon - 6 Old Man. Ran around a bit as the team did some Hill Circuits. Felt a little better today. (Peg purple 394.5)

morning - short walk with dog. 

St. George Half Marathon     1:18:21

Warmed for two miles to get the kinks worked out of the achilles. It was weird racing for the first time in 3’ish years. Didn’t recognize anyone at the start line. No plans for place, but hoped for anywhere from a 1:18 (best case) to 1:20 (reasonable goal after last week’s workout). Have been sick throughout the week, so I wanted to be cautious. Got into a 6:00 pace and held that pretty well throughout (at least until the end). Found myself moving up in place throughout the race, but trying to not go too quick even though I felt pretty good. Eventually moved into 2nd and about 30 secs back with 4 miles to go and wanted to go after him. But decided that wouldn’t be smart to push myself out of what I am in shape to do. Just about .25 mile later, I started to fell the heavy legs setting in.  Leader pulled away and I got caught by another guy. Tried to push to keep in my pace but was definitely slowing. Tried to push to hold onto 3rd.  Dig deep, but it wasn’t to be and another guy got me as we entered the finishing shoot. Was happy about meeting my goal though. It was tough to race, but I think I’ll try and improve on that time in a couple weeks at the DogTown. Cooled for a mile and a half.  Achilles held up decently. (Peg blue 143.5)

morning - 11 Sand Hill/Twix. Very windy and full of blowing rain/sleet. Storm was hitting just before practice and was tracking right across Sand Hill making an interesting twist to the run. Ran out with the boys and then joined the girls for the hill. They pushed really hard and did a great job. Threw in a bit with Twix to round off the morning. Felt some fatigue and soreness in the legs, but not horrid. (Peg purple 405.5)

AM - 4 Twix.  Short walk and run with Twix.  Hit my core routine and then weights.  (Levitate 237.5)

afternoon - 6.5 Sullivan. Up the river trail. Noticed a couple things lately - namely, heart rate is pretty high in the mornings but returns to normal in the afternoons. (Peg NOP 217.25)

AM - 4 Twix.  Short walk and run in the opposite direction to mix it up a little.  Abs.  I think I am in that midlife "crisis" area of life where there are just a lot of thoughts and things that run through your head and you pretty much just constantly wonder where you are in life and where you are going. (Levitate 231.5)

afternoon - 6.5 Prospector.  Crew wanted to hit a trail today, so we went out Prospector way.  I've noticed that my heart rate has been taking sudden and large jumps in the last couple miles of a few of my runs lately.  And I feel it by being wiped out at the end.  (Ravenna 418.5)

AM - 4 Twix.  Short walk and run with the dog.  Abs and weights.  (Levitate 235.5)

afternoon - 7 DC.  Over to the college with some deep philospohical and religious discuss with Evan.  (Peg NOP 224.25)

AM - 4.25 Parkway.  Short walk and run with Twix on the Parkway.  Mixed it up a little to see how she (and I) reacted with a different route this morning.  She ran a little better; I guess I did as well.  Abs and yoga.  (Levitate 239.75)

afternoon - 6 Old Man. Over to the hill and coached ‘em up on some Hill Circuits. (Pace Blue 225)

noon - 11.75 Upper Grapevine. A bit with Twix and then out in my own. Hit a few Strava segments to liven things up a bit. Did a big push from the top of Grapevine all the way down. Some sections in there. (Peg blue34 155.25)

AM - 4 Twix.  Short walk and run.  My running partner is slowing down... and so am I.  Abs.  (Levitate 243.75)

afternoon - 11 Fields. Good run with a decent crew around the Fields. (Peg NOP 235.25)

AM - 4.25 Parkway. Short walk and run around the Parkway with Twix. Abs and weights. (Levitate 248)

afternoon - 7 PV. Warmed and cooled with the team with some laps while the team did a workout. (Boston 479)

AM - 4 Twix.  Short walk and then the regular route with Twix.  Abs.  (Levitate 252)

afternoon - 7.5 White Reef.  Tired run, but a good trail and a good crew up in the reserve.  (Ravenna 426.5)

AM - Walk with Twix, abs, and weights.  Took the morning off to try and get a little something in the legs for Saturday.  

afternoon - 5.5 GS.  Good recovery run with the girls today.  They usually have a pretty fun energy.  (Peg green 471)