12 miles / 8:43 avg.  Commute run to home. Partly sunny, 50 degrees, breeze in all directions.

10 miles / 8:46 avg. From the house to LPT out and back. Clear, 40 degrees light North wind.

Super busy with work today. Looking forward to a good old fashioned run this evening.

PM - 12.3 miles / 8:45 avg. Sun, 50 degrees. Cattle rd / bird refuge. Lots of energy expended on swatting bugs away from my pie hole. Really nice evening though. Felt energetic throughout the run.

Easy 4 mile trail run on the fire break road with the young dog at lunch under mostly cloudy skies and moderate temps.

Playing the taper card today and not running. I'm going in to this marathon feeling much better than before TOU last Fall. Last Fall I was over-fatigued, and had a couple of little niggling pains etc. Now I feel no fatigue, and have no pains anywhere. I'm hoping the combination of having several more months of base miles under my belt, and having cut back a little on higher mileage weeks (50-60 + 1 week around 70 miles), will bring me to marathon day better prepared to go the distance without crashing. My only concern is endurance. I've run 5 long run since January (3 @ 20 and 2 @ 18), with the last one being three weeks before race day. I'm looking forward to being stronger for the next cycle of training and putting in more mileage, but for now this will have to do. Hopefully, I'll finally break the 4 hour barrier and if it's a perfect day, I can come in around 3:45-ish.

6.2 miles / 50:31 / 8:09 avg. Evening run. Sun, temps in the high 50's. After work I drove up to "Emerald Park" which is at the top of a long hill; long enough to do 1/2 mile repeats on. I warmed up a little first,  then did 4 trips down, then up the hill. It's not a super steep hill, but steep enough, and it increases it's steepness as you approach the top. The recent cut back in miles really feels good, I felt like I could have kept running comfortably for miles at that pace, (8:09 per mile is brisk for me). After the fourth repeat, I ran 1.5 miles barefoot on the grass.

9.2 miles / 8:41 avg. Partly cloudy, temps in the low 60's. Nice, easy commute home after a long day at work.

3 miles for heat acclimatization on the fire break road around 3 PM. 75 degrees.

No run today. Running Tues. Wed. and Thurs. Taking Friday off. Then Marathon Saturday.

7 miles / 8:30 avg. Late afternoon run, from home to the LPT out and back. Overcast, 49 degrees, some light rain. After warming up I felt really good. 

Splits: 8:56, 8:32, 823, 8:24, 8:32, 8:19, 8:25.

Easy 6 around the hood before work. Clouds, sun, wind, and rain.

Easy 4 with the dogs on the fire break road for lunch. 

 "You can live to be a hundred if you give up all the things that make you want to live to be a hundred." W. Allen

Garmin had me at 3:51:38 for 26.44 miles. (Official time: 3:51:25).  I'm disappointed that I didn't get the 3:45 I was looking for today. But I am happy with a 14 minute PR. I continue to get faster with age! My excuse for being off pace today is that my right IT band started flaring up around mile 8, and continued to get worse as the miles went by. Frustrating because it's been almost a year since I last had any ITB issues. Maybe the cut back in miles over the last three weeks caused it? I don't know. I was hoping that it would remedy itself by the time I got to the drop off point at the top of the canyon around mile 17, then I could make up some time on the downhill. But it just got worse. Still, getting through and finishing was as big a victory for me today as a 3:45 would have been. Maybe more so. Around mile twelve I briefly considered the possibility of getting my first DNF as I just couldn't get my mind around another 13 miles with the pain. I adjusted my form/stride to try and alleviate the situation, and that seemed to help. But the new, wacky form took it's toll on other parts of my body; by the time I got out of the canyon I was cramping all over. A major highlight of the race for me was around mile 22 where Allie Scott had made signs on bright poster boards for each of the FRB'ers running Ogden today. I saw this big yellow sign that said "JD" on it. I was so out of it, I had forgotten Allie was doing this and I thought to myself "hmm, what a coincidence, I'm JD too." As I got closer I saw Allie just in time to put the pieces together and swing over to say thanks and give her a high 5. A much needed boost. Thanks Allie! 

My splits ranged from 8:15 to 9:00 mpm, except the last two miles, which were 10:22 and 10:00. Would I have made my goal of 3:45 today if not for the ITB issue? I don't know. I do know that my lungs and breathing felt great. I could feel that energy that I do during a good workout. Maybe if I wasn't in pain I would've gone out too hard the first 18 miles and then blown up for the remaining 8 (like I did at TOU last Fall). It doesn't matter. Race day is all about what the day brings. During those last couple of miles I swore that I would never run another marathon. Now, a few hours later, I'm trying to decide on a Fall marathon so I can torture myself again. WHY? WHY DO WE DO IT? 

Congratulations to all the runners out there today! 

Taking a second day off. I feel great. Did some wacky stretches throughout the day yesterday, especially for my ITB. By last night I was able to descend stairs normally again. Looking forward to seeing how I feel running tomorrow.

Go team!

Easy 5 miles, late lunch run from work and around. First post marathon run. Felt good. Definitely in need of some recovery this week. 9:11 avg.

6 miles. Early lunch run at the nature preserve. Overcast, 57 degrees. Mostly buggy. Started out doing loops on the mile long boardwalk loop but the bugs kicked me out so I had to venture out to the roads to complete my run. 8:52 avg.

I just ate an entire Little Caesar's cheese pizza. Approx. 1500 calories, 200 grams of carbs, 80 grams of protein. Let's not discuss the fat and cholesterol content.  Don't try this at home!

Running after work, tonight.

PM: 5 miles of easy trail running love on the fire break road. Sunny, 62 degrees.

Easy 8 on the LPT at lunch. Mostly cloudy, mid 60's. No watch.

That's all the running for this week. Recovery's done. Back to base mileage starting tomorrow.

Easy 8. Mostly cloudy, low 60 temps, light winds out of the West. 2:30 PM. We drove to the Mystery Field track with the dogs. I did 3 easy miles there while the dogs played and my wife ran too. Then she drove them home and I finished my run on the roads. 8:45 avg.

It rained all night. When I woke up, snow was falling. I drove to work in a snowstorm. I'm so happy I could puke.

PM: 8 miles on the treadmill. The weather had cleared up quite a bit, but it was still chilly with the wind. I had gotten myself all worked up about a TM run after work, so I stuck with the plan. I ran miles 3, 5, and 7 at HMP (7:54), mostly just to break up the run a little.  8:35 avg.

Easy 8. Early lunch run on the Bluff trail. Sunny, mid 60's,  good wind. Legs were, unfortunately, napping while I ran. 9:10 avg.

One of my favorite mid-day snacks: A can of Great Northern Beans. Nutrition: Approximately 385 calories, 66.5 grams carbohydrates, 21 grams protein, and a good dose of Iron as well. Best enjoyed cold, direct from the can. It's a good thing. 

In spite of sleeping really well the last couple of nights, I feel wiped out. My legs/muscles feel fine, I just feel exhausted. I'm blaming it on residual post marathon fatigue. I'm really milking it for all it's worth. So, no run today. 

6:12:47 AM. Easy 6 around the hood. Partly cloudy sky, 60 degrees, warm wind out of the South.

Easy 7. Pre-lunch. From work and around the town. Mostly sunshine, wind SW @ 8-18 mph, 67 degrees. It felt hot out there today. 8:46 avg.

10 miles. Commute home. Started around 1:00 PM. Mostly cloudy, 56 degrees. Felt almost normal today. Taking tomorrow off. 8:35 avg.

Had to go into work for a couple of hours this morning. Then I ran home from work. Easy 10.6 miles at 8:57 avg pace per mile. Overcast and 68 degrees.