12 miles for the first day of 2012. 3 loops (3.6 miles ea.) on the buffalo ranch trail (pea gravel/dirt) the rest on the road. except for a steady breeze, the weather was great with sun and 40F.

WT 62.4

seven

8.6 miles from work/rio grande. sun and temps in the upper 30's. better make the most of this tame winter weather!

so the past couple of days i have had to run really easy paced miles because of an old hamstring injury (water skiing, 25 years ago!) that decided to flare up yesterday after over a year of not causing me any trouble. but as with everything else that happens to me in my life, good and bad, i can only assume that this has occurred to work for my ultimate benefit. maybe these super slow miles are exactly what my body needs right now.

WT 59.9 miles

eight

10.2 miles / easy pace, from work. half on the roads, half on the H.S. track. awesome spring weather! hamstring much less of an issue today. still inhibits range of motion, but after a few miles there was little to no pain. 9:10 avg.

WT 62.1 miles

nine

easy 10 from my house before work. clark/ranches/glover loop. it warmed up quickly once the sun was out. i guess i'm all easy paces for awhile.

WT 66.1 miles

ten

4.5 miles / one mile boardwalk loops at the nature preserve. rest day.

WT 58.3 miles

eleven

10.2 miles from work. sunaze, 40F. best run of the week. hamstring still nigglin' but improved.

WT 60.5 miles

twelve

3 miles on the MFT after work. partly sunny, cold and wet. had that weird light headed, weak feeling on today's run. glerb. i just couldn't deal with it today and stopped at 3 miles. i'm going to eat as much food as i can this weekend and see if that helps.

WT 58.5 miles

thirteen

8.6 miles - started with a 3.6 mile loop on the snowy, sporadically tracked buffalo ranch trail, then finished with 5 miles on the sweet asphalt of the road. did several striders/fartlek throughout the last couple of miles, just random pickups without timing, probably at 5k pace-ish. hope i can manage at least one workout later this week. mostly sunny, 31F felt cooler with the steady breeze out of the WNW.

WT 55.1 miles

fourteen

11 miles on the bluff trail. sun, temps in the low 30's. no wind!

WT 57.5 miles

fifteen

10.6 miles. i got a ride into work from my wife, then at "lunch" (12:45 pm) i ran my commute route home. then loaded up the dogs and drove back to work. it was nice going point to point. really great weather and i felt better today than i have in awhile. 8:38 avg.

WT 57.3 miles

sixteen

7 miles from work. nice enough out, except for some three directional wind.

pm - 5 miles. i took the young long legged dog over to the MFT for some cold and dark half mile laps.

WT 59.9 miles

seventeen

4 easy miles at the nature preserve. sun, cold.

WT 59.4 miles

eighteen

8 miles / 8:06 avg. ran late today (2:15 PM). drove to the front runner station in farmington and ran on the LPT south and back. the "ideal-for-runners-weather" continues.

splits: 8:39, 8:10, 8:10, 8:10, 7:52, 7:48, 7:48, 8:15.

WT 57.2 miles

nineteen

10.6 miles - commute run home, started around 1:00 pm. sun, 40+ degrees! MP run / 8:34 avg.

i need to work the long run back into my schedule soon.

WT 64.8 miles

twenty

3 miles at the MFT with significant other and dogs. warm, strong south wind. 7:48 avg.

WT 59.2 miles

twenty-one

easy 8 - from work. overcast, evidence of sun, 24F and a steady north breeze.

WT 56.2 miles

twenty-two

11 miles - later start today (2:30 pm). ran on the LPT from the farmington front runner station, out and back. miles 7 through 9 @ HMP - (7:43, 7:42, 7:56?). the rest just whatever. 8:26 avg. for the run.

WT 56.6 miles

twenty-three

so i've had a "toothache" for the last couple of weeks that's been getting worse and last night it got really bad. this morning at 8:30 AM i found myself in a dental chair. i had some dental work done last summer and was hopeful that would be the end oif it for a while. anyway, another tooth dieing - lots of pain, nerve damage. he did a partial root canal for now, and i guess in a few months i'll go in for the full monty. in a weird way, i like these procedures.

i still intend to keep the streak alive, and will get out tonight for a "gentle" mile or two, then lay low with short easy miles the rest of the week.

3 miles at MFT with dog. warm (36F) and rain. very easy pace.

WT 47.6 miles

twenty-four

9.4 miles - jensen park/west layton loop. todays run was warm, rural, pleasant, and slow. saw an eagle.

WT 53 miles

twenty-five

8.2 miles from work. nice and easy like the weather.

WT 53.2 miles

twenty-six

3 miles on the MFT with dog in the rain. 3 miles is all today as it seems the recent dental work i've had objects to running.

WT 45.6 miles

tweenty-seven

7 miles - LPT. sunny with a fresh 1" layer of snow on the parkway. 

WT 49.6 miles

twenty-eight

4.5 miles from work. actually great weather for running. until i get these dental issues worked out, my daily runs are going to remain low and slow.after cutting back this last week, my legs and body are really feeling fresh and strong. all the little niggles have disappeared and i feel like i could run fast and far. hopefully this afternoons appointment with the dentist will move things along in the right direction. i miss my ten milers.

WT 46.1 miles

twenty-nine

1 mile - MFT - with the dogs. exceptionally awesome caution.

WT 36.1 miles

thirty

easy 5 on the LPT. mostly sun, 45F. perfect running weather. still being cautious with the new "hole" in my mouth. the first few days it's important to let the blood clot form and keep it from popping out so as to avoid the dreaded "dry socket". no point in running far or hard the rest of the week. a positive from this (besides giving my body a break in mileage) is that i'm inclined to try and smooth out my stride to the extreme so i don't jolt my mouth too much while running.

WT 38.1 miles

thirty-one

3.3 miles / 7:46 avg. from work. light rain, temp in the low 40's. still keeping the miles short, but i needed a little break today so i ran a 3 mile progression run.

splits: 8:20, 7:39, 7:31, + .3@7:13

WT 32 miles

thirty-two

easy 8 on the bluff trail. OMG weather. 8:47 avg.

almost back to normal.

WT 31.8 miles

thirty-three

 *i just checked the official results and it shows me coming in at 21:30, which can't be right - so i'm sticking with the garmin certified result of 22:28, and maybe ask the RD about it next time i see him.*

last night i decided i felt good enough to at least go participate in the 5k this morning. a combination of great january weather, cheap entry fee, and a 10 AM start time left me no excuse to not fulfill my "at least one race a month" goal that i made for this year. i haven't run much the last couple of weeks due to a root canal on the 18th and a wisdom tooth extraction on the 23rd. plus i've done zero speedwork over the last several months. but what they hey, i've never been about "fast" anyway. it was great to get out and run hard for three miles. i ran a two mile warmup on the course right before the start. then gasped and hacked my way through the 5k. my unofficial time of 22:28 is about a minute slower than my PR. if nothing else, the race left me wanting to improve my speed. i'm signed up for the series, so i'll "get" to run a 10k in a couple of weeks, and then a 15k a couple of weeks after that. if i can run the 10k with the same pace as today's 5k, i'll consider myself redeemed.

before the race i met  Andrea, for the first time, (super nice) - on my warmup i saw Jake on the course warming up, (super fast) - after the race i chatted briefly with Allie and Fiddy, (super cool people). just love this blog. i ran into a friend who i haven't seen in 3 or so years. he happened to be parked right next to me - (super coincidence).

WT 33.8 miles

thirty-four

10 miles from home to the LPT out south and back. mostly overcast, 38F. 8:37 avg

WT 36.8 miles

thirty-five

7 miles from work. overcast, 40F. 8:38 avg.

PM - 3 easy ones on the MFT after dark with Loki.

WT 42.3 miles

thirty-six

3.4 miles from work. busy day - short run. overcast/cold.

WT 44.6 miles

thirty-seven