Relentless

morning - 18 Quail.  STILL raining in the morning.  I've never seen it rain for this long in So Ut.  So I went out on my Quail Creek run, but made it an out-and-back at the 9 mile mark because I knew the stream would be running very high and I wouldn't be able to cross it.  There was water flowing everywhere - great!  Run was pretty good.  Didn't time it, but noticed the clock when I got back and had a by it, had a better run that last week's 18.  (Stratus 90.25)

Got to 100 this week!  Also hit a few good tempo runs, so I feel good about that.  And most importantly - had a blast in the mud and rain!

Goals for next week:  After building for three weeks, I am taking this week back a little (90), Hit some solid mile work on Monday (got to get a little hard turnover for the 1/2 in a month), and finally, try not to stress so much about everything. 

AM - 7.15 Green Springs. Week started well with a very very slow easy run this morning. I wasn't really tired, but the whole run was just slow. That's okay, though, we all have some of those. (Cumulus red 397.3)

afternoon - 7.6 (3xmiles). Warm up out to Cemetery Loop from PVHS - 2.1 miles. Heading out, I doubted how well I was going to do on these miles; my mind wasn't into it and neither was my body - then I began to doubt if I even was going to do them, but I decided to just give it a shot and see what happened even if it meant having some slower repeats. Started off on the first one going pretty well. I didn't look at my watch until the corner that is about .75 into it and I was pleasantly surprised enough to keep pushing and ended up with a 5:24. Took a short jog recovery (2:00) and started out on the 2nd. Was even more surprised to find I was faster than the first at my check point. Ended up hitting 5:20 even though I thought I was going slower. Recovery jog again, and started on #3. Again I felt tired, and I just knew I was blowing it. But I kept trying to push and ended up with 5:24 again. Three very good times on this mile course - especially having not done any for a few months. Then jogged back to school. (Precision 123.9)

Weights - felt a little better than usual, even though, again I had to convince myself to do them. Then just a shorter cool down of 1 grass loop - .75 miles (Landreth 455.45)

AM - 5 Washington Loop. A bit sluggish - couldn't be from the pounds of candy I ate last night making gingerbread houses! (Paramount 317.95)

afternoon - 8.1 River Run.  Ran with Ruth and chatted about various running things.  Good easy pace, but I wanted to be done with a couple to go - heart wasn't fully there today.  (Cumulus silver 256.4) 

AM - 5 Washington Loop. I could run this loop in my sleep - and that's what I do most of the time! I do try to mix it up a bit with direction and when I add the extension (first or last), and I haven't been burned out with it yet. (Cumulus orange 412.3)

afternoon - 9 GS/PL/Midd reverse. Planned on going just 7, but I couldn't think of any good seven milers to go on. So I headed out toward Middleton, and I got tempted by the trails. They were nice and soft and compact from the recent rains.

a little later later in the afternoon/evening now - 2.7 PVHS to home. My POS Jeep wouldn't start. So I fought with it for awhile, tried to jump it, then just gave up and ran home. (Stratus 101.95)

afternoon - 11 River Trail.  Ran with Gooldilocks and had a very interesting discussion with him about religion of all topics.  Who knows, maybe he really is straightening things out - it would be very good for him.  The run was solid.  He hadn't run 11 in some time (he hadn't run in some time!), but he wouldn't turn around until I did.  He also wanted to push the pace down toward 6:20, but I kept him under control and kept it at 6:50.  On the way back he quit talking, and I could tell he was tired.  After trying to keep up, he finally just told me to keep going and he would finish eventually.  My ave. for the run was 6:56.  (Precision 134.9)

Weights - feeling a little stronger.

Then .75 cool down (Landreth 456.2) 

afternoon - 12.75 From PVHS out onto Coral Canyon paved trail exploring.  Good enjoyable run.  Once I got out to Coral Canyon, I hit some of their paved trails that go all-over.  The best/worst was Mt. Everest which is pretty much like its name - a monstrous climb up a bluff, at one point my Garmin was giving me a reading of over 40% for about 300 yards (peaking at 48%) holy crap!  It was fun to run with no real goal in mind for workout or course.  (Cumulus silver 269.15)

morning - 18 Painter's 1/2 course + 2.5 up and back on River Trail. Decided to go run the 1/2 course to get a feel for it again. Ran great - without even pushing or anything, the pace was consistently in the 6:30's give or take (I felt like Logan!). I think it was good to run the course, because I felt pretty antsy and as my mind went to the race (even though it is over a month away), I would find myself picking up. Ran the half in something like 1:25. Then went up trail with the thought in mind of doing a Tinman Finish for the last three. Right off the bat, I could tell I had put in a decent run as the finish was a little harder than planned. But kept pace good and hit a 6:01, 5:55, and 5:57. Happy with the run. (Stratus 119.95)

Good recovery week - hit solid miles, but let the body recover a bit.  PF started to hurt, but feels a little better; started to have some right knee IT band pain (which is a 1st), but it is minimal and feeling better.

Goals for next week:  Bring it back to 100!  But make sure I am keeping healthy first.  Solid Tempo run on Monday.  Hills  - get into it!
 

AM - 7.15 Green Springs. No PF pain this morning! Best news I've heard all week. Run was alright. I may be getting a bike to ride to and from school. I think it would be fun, but it would just mean getting up about 15 mins. earlier. (Cumulus red 404.45)

afternoon - 13.75 River Trail.  Ran down to the trail 1.8 and then started 3 sets of 2 miles Tempo with mile recovery in-between.  As I started, I doubted I could hit my goal of around 5:45; I don't know why I keep having these doubts, maybe its just because I don't FEEL fast right now.  But eventually I got into the groove and it went well.  Times (from memory) 1-5:44, 2-5:51, recovery in 7:06, 3-5:31, 4-5:39, recovery in 7:07, 5-5:39, 6-5:44.  Flow was good and not too overbearing (just like a tempo should be) until the last one where I had to strain a bit keep it.  Then ran back home by way of the Mosquito Trail and Dogpound.  (Precision 148.68)

no weights today - shopping date with my daughter!  much more fun.

afternoon - 12 GS/PL/WT extended.  This run was great except for one thing - this is the first time I ever wish I had music while running.  Something kept coming into my mind that has been bugging me for days, and I didn't want it there.  So to drive it off, I decided that whenever my mind strayed to that subject (which was constantly) I would put a Christmas song in my head.  Unfortunately the only Christmas song that kept coming up was John Lennon's "So This is Christmas".  For over an hour, that song kept going over, and over, and over, and over .... in my head.  AHHHHH! (Stratus 131.55)

Then 10 barefoot grass striders - probably about 75 meters long each.
 

afternoon - 8.3 Sunrise Hills x 4. Ran out to Sunrise Hill and hit 4 hills. Goal was to have them all under 2:00. Started out moderate to make sure I had some left at the end. Hit the 1st at 2:00, 2-1:56, 3-1:56, 4-1:57. Pretty pleased with the hill workout. Really made me work. Then went down Foremaster and up the Mall trail and on back to PVHS. (Cumulus silver 277.45)

evening - 7 Treadmill @ 1%.  Hit the Treadmill for the 1st time in a while, as my wife was out.  So the girls played while I ran.  7 at 7:30, just grabbing some miles.  (Paramount 324.95) 

AM - 7 Treadmill @ 1%. Nothing to crazy. Had to hit the treadmill again - so I just did the same thing as last night. Weight is holding steady at 150 this Holiday season as compared to last were it climbed up to 155; goal is to keep it here with healthy eating (and enjoying the occasional holiday treat!). (Cumulus red 411.45)

afternoon  - weights then 2.7 home from PVHS.  Running after lifting is not that great.  (Paramount 327.65)

evening - 10 club run up SC Parkway Trail.  Ran with Dustin for a little while, then ran by myself as not too many people were there.  (Precision 158.65) 

afternoon - 14 Fields run.  Nice easy paced run - which is all I could handle today, I think.  My legs feel a bit dead and wiped out.  (Cumulus silver 291.45)

morning - 13.1 Painter's Half Course.  Kind of a good run, kind of a bummer run.  Good because I started off with Dustin, Bill, and Mike - I was very happy to run with people, it is something I am really missing in my running (A year and a half ago, I would never be saying that.  Thanks Club way to change things up for me!).  But as everybody headed back at various spots, I kind of got down.  I really didn't want to be out running and was just barely poking along.  My legs were tired, and my brain was tired.  I decided I would just extend for my 18 without going into Tinman pace; then as I got back to the car, I just stopped.  I did not want to go anymore.  Running wasn't fun anymore - so I just stopped.  I think I crossed that fine line between when you have to push yourself because you maybe just don't feel like it, to the side that you start to not like what you should be loving.  So that's why I stopped.  Later in the day, I wanted to go back out for a run.  I didn't know if it was because I felt guilty or if I needed to go or if I wanted to go.  So I just went and did some other things and decided to chill out.  (Stratus 144.65)

Week started strong, but it faded to today's run.  I think one thing was, I allowed myself to sleep in a couple times when I shouldn't have and running kind of built up on me. 

Goals for next week:  Make sure I keep loving to run, make it through the difficult last week of the quarter combined with the week before Christmas break.
 

AM - 7.15 Green Springs. Happy to be out running again! Nothing else needs to be said. (Paramount 334.9)

afternoon - 8.8 - 4xcemetery mile.  Ran 2.1 out to cemetery and started up on miles.  Planned on doing 4 and cutting recovery to only a 1 minute jog.  First was pretty good 5:29, but I could tell I didn't have a lot of juice.  2-5:24 a little better, but still no quickness.  3-5:32 slowed a bit.  The downhill section wasn't as fast as it should have been.  About halfway through it, the limited recovery was starting to hit me.  4-5:39 Struggled taking advantage of the downhill again and legs were spent.  Then ran back to PVHS by way of Sandberg's Pond.  Okay repeats.  Never really know what to get when you increase repeats or decrease recovery, and I did both.  (Precision 167.45)

weights and then .75 jog around fields (Landreth 456.95)

afternoon - 12 GS/PL/WT extended.  Nice to be back in the desert again.  Felt a little stronger than last week and was able to roll it a little better coming down Turkey Farm.  (Paramount 346.9)

evening - 5 Treadmill @1%.  Easy 5 on  treadmill while watching some college hoops.  (Cumulus red 416.45) 

AM - 5 Washington Loop. Pulled out of bed to a bit of a misty run. The rain was just kind of hanging in the air. Felt a bit sore and tight. (Paramount 351.9)

afternoon - 12 River Trail.  I kind of didn't want to get out and run, but reading some other blogs got me going.  I felt a bit sore and off.  A lot of the run was just kind of a countdown to when I would be done (not a good thing).  (Stratus 156.65)
 

AM - 5 WarmSprings down to Telegraph and Cottonmill. Hip hurt during the last night, and there was still some pain this morning. But once I got going, it actually helped loosen things up a little. Went on a different route this morning and it treated me well. I actually wanted to just keep going this morning and get a good 12 in, but I had to get to school to do grades. (Cumulus red 421.45)

evening - 12.55 GreenValley into Santa Clara with Logan.  This is why I love running!  And it couldn't have come at a more perfect time.  Started with Club and enjoyed a few miles together; then Logan and I picked it up a little and got some good miles at a solid pace - 6:50 for the whole run.  (Precision 180) 

AM - 7.15 GreenSprings. Slept in just a few minutes, but still did the 7 because it's the last day before break and I don't care if I am only a little early for school. Surprised everything was not blown away by last night's storm. (Cumulus orange 419.45)

afternoon - 9 Shnobe Kibe (couldn't find the spelling of this, so that's my best attempt). Went from PVHS out across bridge into fields and around Shnobe Kibe, but the trail/road doesn't go all the way around - it ends at some industrial plant, so I had to turn around and head back. Enjoyable run though. (Stratus 165.65)

morning - 16.2 Coral Canyon from Clyde's with Clyde and Logan.  Logan made fun of us for being cold.  The two of them tried to kill the old man with some burning miles near the end.  6:45 ave for run.  (Cumulus silver

morning - 12.1 Target Loop onto Mosquito Trail. 6 miles of Tempo around the bottom of the hill and up Riverside: 6:13, 6:05, 5:46, 5:49, 6:13, 6:04. (Stratus 177.75)

afternoon - 10.9 Sandhill reverse then connect onto Dino Tracks reverse. Good desert run on a nice day. (Paramount 362.8)

noon - 5 on treadmill @1%. I didn't want to run at all today, but I wanted to (does that make any sense?), so I went downstairs to the treadmill to run as the girls played with Christmas; however, they ended up leaving after a minute anyway, so I slogged through 5 and decided I didn't want to run anymore. (Cumulus red 426.45)

morning - 15 Wasatch Drive into Draper and up 13th and Sego Lily in a snowstorm. Luckily the storm wasn't horrible, but the whole accumulation made it so I nearly died numerous times by cars that didn't want me anywhere near the road. I tried staying on the sidewalk and that was about impossible, so the turn up Sego Lily couldn't come soon enough to get out of traffic. (Cumulus Silver 306.45)

morning - 15.25 Through Willowcreek out to Cottonwood Heights and back and then Sego Lily loop. Run was pretty decent; kept to a little less crowded streets than yesterday, and I was able to push for about 3 miles out near Butler to around low 6 pace. (Precision 195.25)

morning - 12 out and back into Coral Canyon on Trails to Gilbert. Fun run, nice to be back in decent temps and run somewhere a little different. (Stratus 189.75)

evening - 8 Millcreek Trail and Warm Springs. It was dark out, but I thought it would be fun to try out my new headlamp and run into the desert. Unfortunately, a few miles out, the batteries died and I was forced to run back in the dark trying not to step in a hole and die! (Cumulus red 434.45)

Nothing today - I didn't want to run when the alarm went off (and since I had a full day of fence building ahead of me, I didn't think I had time later), but I didn't even do a double take.  I am going to try and get refreshed a little this weekend.

week was iffy.  I really had to push myself to run most days and that scares me.  I want to love running even when I am doing a lot of it and making myself work.

Goals for next week: get back on the horse in a positive manner. 

No desire to run. This was an interesting way to end the year for me. If I try and analyze why I didn't want to run Saturday and today (if only for the purpose of looking back and learning from it), I've decided it was 100% burnout. I've seen the signs coming for weeks: small nagging pains, sleeping troubles (but always tired), lack of desire. I tried to catch it a few weeks ago, but obviously I needed more. This little break hopefully leaves me feeling a little better and ready to go - although the timing of it was probably not the best for the immediate with Painter's coming up (but in the long run, things will probably be better because of it)

2007 in REVIEW:

It's that time of year again where everybody looks back at some picture montage of the wonderful, horrible, and surprising events of the year. So strap on your ipod and let's take a whirl. First off, the year was nothing but a great success. I ran the most miles I ever have (3919.7) and had a lot of fun doing it most of the time. One of the biggest keys to my success and mileage this year was staying healthy. For the most part, I stayed injury free and was able to meet all my daily and weekly goals (save a few bouts of the cold and flu and minor annoyances with PF). Because of this, my races were great. It started off with a PR in the half at Painters in January -1:14 - from there I took my 1/2 PR to high 1:10 at Bryce (and won $200!), then down to low 1:10 at my best race ever, Provo Canyon 1/2. In 10K's, I was able to break into the winner's column at Cotton Fest in May as well as run an all-time PR at the Summer Games with a 31:00 (the first race that really gave me the confidence that I could run fast). In the marathon, things were just as good or better. Ally and I had great time going to Boston and despite the weather the run was amazing, the atmosphere, the crowd, the idea of Boston. To top it all off, I ran another PR high 2:40. And that came despite a crippling slow last 10K. I guess what really topped it all of was the trip to the medic tent where my body temp was down to 90 (maybe a bit low!). All of this was a prep to run amazing at St. George. I was worried about going as fast as my goal, but I went out controlled, but hard and let it lead me to reaching exactly what I wanted a 2:26:52, a 15th place finish, and a true opportunity at hitting the Oly Trials in a few years. It has been an amazing running year with many up's and as always a few down's. But it has set the stage for more great things to come.

Thanks so much to my wonderful wife and amazing daughters for their support and time. Also to the St. George Running Center and Club, Steve and Clyde and everyone else. Without this support and push (mentally, physically, and financially) I couldn't have done it.