This is the first Sunday I've not run since I started running six days a week last August...I must've found religion! LOL!! Actually, it works out perfectly as far as my training schedule goes. My body feels great, but my mind was tired this morning and I thought it through and decided this would be a good day to take my rest day for this week. So I'll be running Monday through Saturday to get my 70 miles this week. I might run next Sunday, which is the begining of a two week taper for the Ogden Half.

Today we're going to go pick up a new dog...a great dane...our cats will be so excited. Our other dog Buddy will be happy to have a companion again.

Have a great Sunday!

6:15 AM. From the house to LPT out and back. Clear skies, 36F, light wind. Felt better today than I have in a week.

Hoping for more this afternoon...

Lunch time run on the Bluff trail. Sunny, 53F, winds 15-22 mph SSW. Pleasant enough day weather wise, the wind blew, but other than that no complaints.

Okay, this is going to sound like fiction but it really happened. Just as my run was ending...I was hit in the back of the head by a bird! I heard flapping wings going over my head then all of a sudden wham! It felt like getting hit with a bag of sand. The poor thing, a duck I guess, was waddling around in a daze. It looked like it was gasping for air and probably got the wind knocked out of it. I hope that's all anyway. My head hurt for a few minutes afterward, but I'm not dizzy or anything. I am feeling a little shaky though.

Mile splits for this afternoon: 1 - 8:16  2 - 8:05  3 - 8:42  4 - 8:16  5 - 7:51 

41:10/8:14

Late lunch run on the Bluff. Partly cloudy, 55F, wind from the North 8-12 mph.

Was having a hard time focusing on the run so at mile 6 I started a series of 8 x 2 mins. @ 7:15 pace w/ 2 mins easy inbetween.

Mile splits 1) 9:09 2) 8:15 3) 8:30 4) 8:48 5) 9:17 (um...) 6) 8:27 7) 8:19 8) 8:23 9)8:17 10) 8:21  + .2 mi. @ 1:29 (7:26 pace).

1:27:14/8:33

6:15 AM. Easy 8 miles. Clear, 40F, light wind. From house to LPT out and back. Legs feeling tired and stiff this morning, loosened up a little during run but not as much as I would have liked.

12:45 PM. Easy 5.5 at the nature preserve (1 mile boardwalk - loops). Mostly sunny, 56F, wind WNW 4-10 mph. Lots of birds, no collisions.

Lunch run. Bluff trail. partly cloudy, 60F, wind NW 4- 12mph.

The pace today was very, very slow and easy. With all that time to think, I came to the conclusion that I actually, really do like vanilla...

April '09...

My first 70 mile week.

My highest mileage month. (260.95).

First time in my life I've been 45 years old.

AM - 9.1 miles, from the house to LPT out and back. Post rain, overcast, some light drizzle, 46F, light winds, some sun peeking through...very nice conditions for a run.

PM - 4 miles with the dogs on the hilly fire break road (or, Bonneville Shoreline Trail). Mostly cloudy, 60 + degrees. Just a real easy, mellow jog with lots of stops for the dogs at creeks, and for ATV's.

Well I waited until after work to run in hopes the rain would stop. When I started the run it was overcast with intermitent light rain. I could see little patches of blue in the western sky. Most of the second half of the run was in the sun, and 56 degrees temp.

I was relieved to find that my legs were recovered, they've been stiff and heavy for the last three days, but today they felt great. This is my second 70 mile week in a row/in my life actually. I'm pleased that I held up without anything breaking. It was touch and go for a couple of days there though. I think what really helped is that I've been sleeping really well, 7 or 8 hours a night. I still get woken up once or twice to let animals outside, but I always fall immediately back into a deep sleep. It's been years since I slept like this. Apparently, adaptation puts me to sleep. Another thing that made the increase in miles possible was that I ran most of those miles much slower than my usual pace.

Cutting back a bit over the next two weeks to make room for the Ogden Half on the 16th.