Getting out the door at 5:00 AM for my run this morning had nothing to do with diligence, or necessity. It had everything to do with INSOMNIA. Around 4:30 am I decided to get up and get the run in before I was too tired to run at all.

This is the furthest distance since I starting running again last year. I think it went okay. I took the "run your long runs 1 to 2 minutes slower than your regular pace" recommendation to heart this morning as I focused on staying relaxed, steady, and mentally strong. Good weather with clear skies, about 30 degrees and some light winds. Lots of birds chirping, I think they're getting psyched for Spring too. 

Registered for TOU marathon today...

Late lunch run on the LPT. Cloudy, 42F, not much wind. Felt pretty good considering yesterdays long run. After two miles I felt good and thought I'd try 2 or 3 miles at a tempo pace, haha! After the first mile I realized that wasn't going to happen so I just tried to keep the pace faster than usual for the rest of the run.

7.2 mi/59:33/8:16

Run at lunch. Sunny, 64F!! wind 18mph etc.

Easy recovery run. Decided to scout out the area around my workplace. I haven't run from the shop before because the traffic around here is horrendous. It was about what I expected: lots of concrete, traffic, twists and turns. Not my cup of tea. However, there is a high school a half mile away and I figure I can run from here to the track and get in a good workout from time to time. So that's convenient.

Unfortunately the weather supposed to turn cold again soon, with rain/snow. But it'll be short lived and warm temps will soon be the norm...

THIS JUST IN: All headwinds are annoying, but less so when they're warm rather than cold.

Run from house this morning to legacy park trailway, out and back. mostly cloudy, 55F, wind 16 mph with wind gusting to silly mph.

Had to put one of our dogs down this morning (Farley). She was a great dog and we shared many adventures over the last nearly 10 years. Everybody loved her, she was a real sweet dog.

Lunch time run. Mostly cloudy,  40F, wind at 15 mph. Jensen park/Syracuse trail.

The run really helped to clear my head today, grateful to be a runner.

Did sort of a tempo run...I guess. After 4 miles easy I ran the last 4 faster. Here's the splits:

1 - 8:33

2 - 8:45

3 - 8:45

4 - 8:42

5 - 8:18

6 - 8:08

7 - 7:59

8 - 8:19

1:07:27/8:26 avg.

I felt better today than I have all week. Next week I'll try an actual tempo workout. I didn't have anything planned for todays run and it just sort of went this way.

Nice and easy on the fire break road this afternoon. Mostly cloudy, light snow, 36F.

Me likey.

Full on rest day.

This just in: Running is good for you.

Started at 12:40 GST (Garmin Standard Time). Sunny, 48F, wind 9 MPH gusting to 20+. The wind sucked even more today for some reason.

After almost 7 miles into the wind I tried to run 3 miles at tempo pace, miles 8 - 10 averaged 8:09, then 2.25 mi. cool down. I'm tempted to feel discouraged about today's run because I was so wiped out at the end but I think those first seven miles took a lot out of me, so I guess I got in a pretty good workout although it's not reflected by my pace.

I've noticed that when I tire on a run, or struggle to keep the pace I want, it's almost always because of my legs. My lungs/breathing feel great, but my legs feel stiff or crampy. I stretch every night pretty thoroughly, but beyond that I don't know what else I should do to keep my legs from copping out on a hard run. It seems like there should be a magic beverage or something that will flood my legs with love and happiness and make them feel no pain and all gain. But I've yet to hear of any such wonder elixer. Please, let me know if there's something obvious I can do to help aleviate the situation.

My wife and I are celebrating our 12th wedding anniversary today. Although we've actually been together over 13 years. Life is good and I'm a lucky guy!

Easy TM run. 

This just in: it's remarkably easy to turn a treadmill OFF.

I just started reading "The Call Of The Wild" by Jack London. Oh my goodness!

On the treadmill.  Made up the workout as I ran based on how things were going.

2 mi. warmup

8 x 2 mins. @ 7:30 7:54 mpm range w/1 min. easy

.5 mi. easy

4 x 3 mins. @ 8:00 mpm w/ 1.5 mins easy

.5 mi. easy

2 x 1 min. @ 7:04 mpm w 1 min easy

1.6 mi. Cool down.

Felt pretty good throughout.

10 mi./1:25:17/8:32

Ran 7 miles easy from Jensen park North on the Syracuse trail and back. Sun, mid 40's, light winds.

1:01:32/8:48

Late afternoon trail run on the horizon!

(Time passes...)

Easy fiver on the hilly fire break road. Sunny sunshine, breezy breezes, 45- ish degrees.

I'll probably run a 5k on Saturday, so tommorrow I'll run even easier. If I run backwards will that deduct mileage from my weekly total?

Easy 4.25 for lunch. Run North from jensen park/syracuse trail. Sun, 40F wind 5-8 mph.

Looking forward to the 5k tommorrow, my first race in almost six years.

Giggity.

Finally. My first race since being here on the blog. Now I have a 5k time I can use to more accurately gauge my workouts. I think my time was right around a PR I ran 12 years ago, at sea level, in LA. So, given that I'm 44 yrs old now, and the race was at about 4200 ft elevation, I guess I'll take it. Like I have a choice.

The race started at 8:30 am. I got there around 7:15, registered, and then warmed up 3.9 miles. I ran up into city creek canyon. I used to run up there all the time and it's been a few years so it was nice to see it again. Very peaceful up there with the creek gurgling, the birds chirping, and the day starting to light up. Cold temps and a brisk north wind.

The race starts uphill. The first over mile and a half is mostly uphill in fact. My slow gene had me breathing hard and loud within the first quarter mile...and it seemed I never really did get my breathing under control. I've never had this happen in training, I wonder if nerves played into this at all. I passed the first mile in 8:19. I was okay with this because it was uphill. I was worried that that was going to be my pace for the whole race though, and I tried to push harder. The second mile I ran in 7:39, that's better. I'd say the last quarter of mile 2 was downhill. The third mile was all downhill, and pretty steep at times. My split for mile 3 was 6:45. I found myself trying to stay with this kid (like 12 years old or something) throughout most of the race, (ah, the life of a middle of the pack guy!). He did pull way ahead of me in the final quarter. For the most part, I passed people the whole time and had just a couple of people pass me. I sprinted hard to the finish line. The clock said 23:15 but my Garmin said 23:25 for 3.11. So I'll call it 23:20 for 3.1 until/if I see official results. I felt a little nauseous for just a few seconds after I stopped but relaxed and took a few deep breaths and was fine.

Well, I'm not fast. But I do think I can improve. One thing different nowadays compared to when I ran before is that I can pick up my pace and surge when I want to, and maintain that for a minute or so. Whenever I heard footsteps coming up behind me, I had another gear I could go into, and the footsteps would fade. I've never been a competitve person, but I'm learning to use the other runners around me to get a better performance out of myself.

I cooled down with two easy miles.

Now I need to find a 10k for April.

Splits, according to the book of Garmin:

mile 1 - 8:19 (all uphill) "Gravity Hill" is definately uphill heading North.

mile 2 - 7:39 (about 3/4 up and 1/4 downhill)

mile 3 - 6:45 (all extremely downhill)

last .11 42.09 (6:13 pace)

I'm curious to see how I'll feel tommorrow.

Ran on the pipeline trail in Millcreek Canyon. Some packed snow, slush, and mud, but some nice dry stretches too. Beautiful weather with sun, low 50's and light wind. I was in Salt lake this morning visiting with my dad, and brought my running gear along. Encountered lot's of hikers, other runners, and dogs. So many dogs. All friendly dogs with happy smiles on there faces! Nice slow pace for most of the run.

Ran on the LPT, late afternoon, partly cloudy, windy (8 - 15+mph) 64F.

I was tired and very happy when today's run was done. Took it slow.

Late lunch run from Jensen park on the roads and Syracuse trail. Sun, 60F, a little wind. Very easy pace. I'm increasing my mileage over the next few weeks so this week I'm laying off everything but nice and easy as far as my pace is concerned.

This weather rocks!

AM: 7.6 mi. Run from the house this morning to LPT out and back. Clear skies, 37F, no wind.

PM: 4.5 on the fire break road with Buddy. Beautiful sunny skies, 64F. I began the run tired but felt a lot better after a couple of miles.

Lunch run at a new location, a nature preserve in west Layton. I parked outside the gate and ran in on a dirt road which became a boardwalk after .4 miles. The boardwalk felt like heaven on my legs and feet. Unfortunately it was only a mile long (1.04 actually), I had hoped the boardwalk went on indefinately. Anyway, beautiful 62 degrees under high thin clouds and calm winds. I don't think this will be a regular running spot because of the short loop, but maybe it will serve as a good second run from time to time. It does have the potential to be quite swarmed with bugs at times I imagine.

8.4 miles easy (9:10 mpm), with 3 "stridervals" of 1 min. @7:00 - 7:30 pace with 1 min. easy.

Early lunch run from jensen park/syracuse trail. Sun, 60 degrees, calm winds.

My week total ending today is 66.25 miles, my highest week to date. I've been running consistently for only 7 and a half months (6-7 days a week, 45-60 mpw), but I feel like my body is definately adapting to the new workload. When I ran a couple of 60 mile weeks back in November I felt really run down, wiped out etc. This week I feel really good. Feels like progress.

Ran from the house up Farmington canyon onto the fire break road, then back down the canyon, through the hood to LPT and out and back, then home. Temps dropped from 56 to 46 degrees while I was out. The winds (12-15 steady with gust up to 30 mph) shifted from SSW to WNW also. It started to rain on me during the last mile or so.

A fun run with a variety of climbs, descents, asphalt, dirt, and nutty weather.

Late afternoon run. It's been almost two weeks since my last TM run and I was jones'n for a little treadmill action. LOL! Progression starting at 8:57 pace for the first mile and worked  up to 7:56 for the last mile. Went a little harder than I planned but the TM is gentle on the legs so I think I'll be alright.

Another thing I like about treadmill runs is I can wear shoes that have no business being still unretired.

1:08:26/8:33

Looking for that peaceful easy feeling on the Syracuse trail (all asphalt btw). Mostly sunny, 40F, winds 12-15+mph.

I planned on 8 miles, but the further out I got on the trail, the more rural the surroundings got, and what with the ideal temps, sunshine, pastures, and horses, I sort of got absorbed in thought and before I knew it the  mile alert went off on my watch and I was surprised to see I had gone out 5 miles. I felt good so I stretched it out to 5.5 miles then turned around and came back.

1:41:11/9:12

Easy 8 on the LPT late this afternoon. Cloudy skies, 40 degrees, calm winds. Good running weather. Legs felt stiff the whole time, but the run went by quickly.

Carolyn in Colorado is in Utah and she was nice enough to stop by my work today to say hello. It was nice to put a face with a blogger. Thanks Carolyn!

PM - TM - KUER FM

1:00:26/8:38

6:15 AM clear, 25F, no wind really. VERY easy pace. Boy I like running in the mornings, I should do it more often.

1:30 PM sun, light wind, 45F. 6.7 miles on the 1 mile boardwalk loop at the shoreline preserve. Felt better than this morning. Tried to make a progression run out of it. Worked down to 7:40 for last 1.7 miles.

It's dumping snow. I can hear my treadmill snickering at me from the corner of the room. It knows I'm powerless against the allure of the treadmill at times like this. Serenity now. Serenity now.

(Time passes...)

I wasn't looking for a workout today, just needed something to break up the monotony of treadmill miles, so I devised the Goal Pace Tempo Medley:

2 mile warmup

4 miles @ GMP (8:27)

1 mi. easy

1.5 miles @ GHMP (8:06)  This is faster than my actual goal. I was going to go 2 mi. oops

.5 mi. easy

.5 @ G10kP (7:48)

.5 easy

.25 @ G5kP (7:24) Not a tempo. An interval of one?

1.75 warmdown

12 m i./1:45:20/8:47 avg.

My treadmill is stuck at 1.5% incline. Also the calibration is most certainly off  on this old machine so none of these pacings really mean much. But it was a fun way to pass time while running on a hamster wheel.

Afternoon on the Jensen park/syracuse trail. Mostly sunny, 37F wind 7-10 mph N.

1:07:12/8:24

6:15 AM,  8 miles, from house to LPT, out and back. Moslty cloudy, balmy 33F, light wind out of the North. Extremely slow and easy pace, except for the part where I raced a backhoe up an overpass. The backhoe won.

1:30 PM , 4.5 miles on the 1 mile boardwalk loop at the shoreline preserve. Overcast, 40F, wind 10 MPH NNE. Felt much better this afternoon than I did this morning. Same with Friday's double. Hmm. 38:52/8:38