Philippians 4:13

Very easy 6M recovery run early before church.   The weather was nice, about 20 degrees with no wind.  Legs and feet feel good after yesterday's tough hill workout. 

7M outside in warmer weather with no wind early this morning.  Very easy recovery run as my calves are a bit tight and my left foot is still a little sore from the downhill assult from Saturday.  It is supposed to be very nice today with a high near 50, so I will definitely get a good run in at lunch.  (T3)

7M at lunch with Pat B. Easy day with good conversation on a day that wasn't as nice as I thought it was going to be. Overall a good run with the fastest miles at the end. (T2)

It was very warm this morning when I got up (40 degrees) so it was a good outside run early.  I had a light rain for about 4M then it tapered off a bit.  Ran easy as my foot was a bit sore when I woke up, but after massaging it for a few minutes it felt fine on the run.  At about 7M point, I saw Andrea heading out on her early morning run so I picked it up to MP to catch her and chat for bit then kept running at MP for most of the way back home.  Weather is looking good for a nice lunchtime run today!  (Stratos 3)

A first for 2009...running in SHORTS in Idaho Falls!! A beautiful day for a run, 42 degrees and no wind.  Shorts, long sleeve tech shirt and light gloves for an easy MP run.  What a great run, no GPS but estimate about a 6:20ish pace by feel...nice and easy.  A little twing in the high right calf about the 1M mark, but it went away and didn't bother me.  (T2)

7M early this morning in the rain.  Temp was about 40 degrees with no wind.  Ran in shorts, long sleeve tech shirt, gloves, rain vest and hat.  Overall a good run, started easy (7:40) and progressed up to sub 7:00 pace at the end.  Rain was letting up as I got home at 7M but I needed to stop as nature was calling and I was getting a bit cold from being soaked.  (Stratos 3)

Another beautiful day for a run at lunchtime...41 degrees, sunny with just a light breeze.  5M at an easy 6:40ish pace, just hard enough to feel it, easy enough to just relax and go on autopilot and rest the legs a bit.   Ran in shorts and long sleeve tech shirt again, ah spring is coming!  (T2)

9.5M on the TM at the gym this morning.  It was relatively warm outside, but sustained 30 mph winds were a no go that early.  So, 1M easy wu, then 8.5 at 6:22 pace or better with 2 0.5M segments at 5:36.  Overall a really good run that took exactly 1 hour (6:22 avg pace).   Listened to AC/DC and Def Leppard.  (Stratos 3)

Damn that Pat, I let him talk me into running a 3M tempo run with him today.  We had talked about it earlier in the week and I went longer this morning because I had some stuff going on at work so I was not sure I could run at lunch (got it done early!).  So out we went and the winds were howling...30mph with gusts much higher plus it was pretty cold (15 with windchill).  We warmed up easy for 2M, then hit the tempo running north with the wind mostly at our back.  1M - 5:55, 2M - 5:42, 3M - 6:24 (half of this heading back into the wind).  To make things worse, about the 2.5M mark into the tempo, my insides started churning really bad.  After hitting the end of the tempo, we had 2.5M to go right into the wind...this was worse than the tempo!  I barely made in back to the locker room in time and now am very tired and hungry...can I also go home for a nap?  (T2)

Whatever was wrong with my insides, it was not good.  I did end up going home early and spent the rest of the day either in bed or in the bathroom.   Eating was not a good thing either.  By the time I feel asleep for the night, I was feeling a little better.  My son and wife both had something like this in the last week, I wonder if it was just my turn.

7M on the TM at gym very easy.  Feeling better but didn't want to push it or risk it, so I stayed inside near a bathroom.  Run was good, but insides were still a bit tender.  Probably only run for the day to rest for tomorrow's long run.  (Stratos3)

20.5M run today in the cold and windy weather...yuck!  I met the IF runners (Lynette, McKay, Andrea...all Boston bound) at Community Park and we headed out to run through the older numbered streets to take advantage of the wind break from all the mature trees.  First 3M easy with the group, then I started throwing in some MP or faster segments (0.5M - 1.5M in length) and circling back to join the group again for some easier mileage.  Overall about 5M at MP (3M mile splits at 6:20ish) and many more sub 7:00 pace.  Overall average pace was a good 7:05 which felt very easy...I was feeling very good and peppy until about 18M where fuel started to become an issue (didn't really fuel or take much water earlier), then I just finished off the rest of the mileage with Andrea as she finish her 18M (60M for the week for her, mileage high!).  A great run in pretty crappy weather...I want spring to really get here! 

The local Idaho Falls magazine published an article on some of the IF runners headed for Boston, pretty cool.  Mostly focused on Lynette and coming back from her injury last year...a good article! (Stratos 3)

7M this morning before church in cold and wind.  Just an easy recovery run on my short day at a 7:00 pace. 

Woke up with a slight stomach ache but went out early for a 9M run.  Weather was ok, 22 degrees and a light wind.  Pace was slow and easy so as not to push my stomach issues.

I am in a training class all this week so I don't yet know how many, if any, lunch runs I will get in.  So, I am going to try and make my morning runs between 9-11 miles. (T3)

A quick run at lunch, 3.5M around the Freeman Park pathway at 6:10 pace.  This is likely the most I am going to get all week due to the class.  (T2)

It was cold and windy out this morning, so I opted for the TM at the gym to do some hill work.  9M in 56:20 varying incline between 2% (base incline) and 6.5%.  Varied pace between 6:44 (w/u) and 5:36 (0.5M), averaging 6:25 for the run.  Overall felt really good and the pace and incline were pretty easy this morning.  (Stratos 3)

3.1M around Freeman Park at lunch in very cold and very windy.  Nice easy 7:00 pace, left achilles a bit of a twing but not bad...will watch it.  (T2)

9M on the TM at the gym at an average pace of 6:23.  Didn't feel like dealing with the cold and wind (home thermometer said 15 degrees) and a cool breeze.  When I got the gym I felt like a wimp because it really wasn't that bad outside...oh well, I was already there in shorts and singlet and didn't have time to change my mind.  To work early today to get some stuff done before class.  (Stratos 3)

3.3M at lunch around Freeman Park in 20:20.  Weather was sunny, no wind but still cold.  1M - 5:57, 2M - 6:10, 3M - 6:10, 0.3M cooldown.  Good run, but don't like the fact that I slowed down for the last 2 miles.  (T2)

8M on the TM at the gym this morning since it was 10 degrees outside and I again didn't feel like braving the cold.   Average pace of 6:25 with 1M at 5:49.  Had a little twing in the left foot and I got a pretty good side ache at one point that I got over by just really concentrating on my breathing pattern.  Had to go short today so Kami could get to the gym early.  (Stratos 3)

4.4M at lunch around the river on a very nice day...sun, no wind, still a bit cold.  6:53 average, nice and easy.  (T2)

11 degrees outside, too cold...8M on the TM at the gym at 6:28 pace...ugh!  Off to finish class at work on my day off.  (Stratos 3)

5M after work on a wonderful afternoon.  2M with my kids as they rode their bikes (really easy), then 3M in 1.5M laps around the neighborhood so I could swing by the house to check on them (Kami is at the gym).  Total time: 37:24.  (Stratos 2)

Met Andrea, McKay and MaryAnn from Provo at Community park on a really nice morning, warmer and no wind.  15M at an average 7:05 pace...some easy with Andrea and McKay and about 4M total of faster pickups with MaryAnn (one segment was a nice 5:45 1M).  Overall a decent run, nothing to special to report.   Andrea ran great even with a sore back and McKay was really running a great pace but stopped early because he was having trouble breathing. 

9.5M on nice morning before church.  38 degrees, sunny and windy so the temp was nice but the wind was nippy...I was still a bit overdressed.  Nice run, started easy but the pace picked up as the run went on for an overall average of 7:00 pace.  Good start to the week. 

7.5M nice and easy early on a warm and windy morning with no watch. Easy start to the work week. (T3)

6.3M around the river at lunch with Pat. Nice and easy 7:25ish paced run just talking and enjoying the run. Weather was warm and windy and threatened rain but never did (thus I was way over dressed). Nice easy day to start the week and get ready for a hard 10K race on Friday as part of a 20M day. (T2)

8M early on a nice morning...40 degrees and just a slight breeze.  I started out feeling tired and not motivated for this run and went out expecting only 5M.  After 1M I started to feel good and picked up the pace (no Garmin) and started to through in pickups to race cars to landmarks on the pathway.   Overall I felt really good and stretched the run to 8M at what felt like about a 7:00 pace overall.  (T3)

A great run at lunch with Pat.  Nice warm but very windy day (20+mph out of the south).  Pat wanted to do 6 X 0.5M intervals which sounded good for me for some speed work (except for the wind).  2.25M warmup and running over to the road where we are doing the intervals with .25M recovery in between (2:00-2:10 recovery). 

1 - 2:35  (with the wind)

2 - 2:51  (into the wind)

3 - 2:50  (into the wind)

4 - 2:51  (half head on, 180 degree turn - half with wind at backs)

5 - 2:52  (half into wind, 180 degree turn - half at backs) 

6 - 2:44 (half, 180 degree turn - half)  pushing hard the last 0.1M

1.5M cooldown back to the building.  A great interval workout (even in my heavier trainers). (T2)

6.1M early on a cooler morning but no wind. Ran very easy as I was tired and a bit stiff at the beginning from yeterday's hard intervals. Ran through Snake River Landing to take in the rolling hills. A nice easy workout, felt better at the end than the beginning which is always a good thing. (T3)

4.5M at lunch on a gorgeous day...sunny, 44 degrees, slight breeze.  Good slow MP run (~6:20ish pace by feel, no Garmin) that really felt easy and controlled.  (T2)

I forgot to mention earlier about how amazed I am by my wife, Kami!  She is a workout animal on the elliptical at the gym and prepping to get back out running now that the weather is turning nice.  As she has been rehabbing from PF developed last fall, she has been averaging 10M on the machine (40-50 miles per week in addition to weight workouts) at a hard level and averaging 7:00-8:00 pace!  She is an animal...it will be great to run with her again based on her fitness right now (she has also dropped about 15 lbs. since October and looks amazing!). 

Early morning 7M run through Snake River Landing. Started off slow and a bit tired but the pace and feel got better as the run progressed. I would have gone longer but I slept in a bit and needed to get back so Kami could get to the gym. I will get a good run in at lunch on what looks to be a very nice day. (T3)

Boston bib numbers are out (#1082)!

7M run on a nice day at lunch around the greenbelt. I wanted a steady MP run of 6M today to prep for the 10K on Saturday. Overall average for the entire run ended up being 6:16, right on target (including a warmup mile). Splits: 1-6:43, 2-6:03, 3-5:59, 4-6:12, 5-6:23, 6-6:10, 7-6:21. Nice and easy, no stress or fatigue (mile 5 was a breather) so exactly what I wanted today. (T2)

Heard back from Ogden marathon today and no comp (only a COUPLE given...top 10 last 2 years and challenger for Master's title...no soup for you!). So still thinking if I want to pay the late registration fee (wish they would have decided back when the fees were still lower). I did get an entry and accommodations into the Space Coast Marathon in November (sun and warmth in November...sweet!).

7M easy run early this morning through Snake River Landing and back. My neighbor and fellow runner Briam joined me this morning which was nice to have the company (convinced him last night over beers to get up early, he is training for a couple triathlons later this year). Nice morning, 32 degrees no wind...good conditions for an early run. (T3)

7M around the greenbelt at lunch on an absolutely gorgeous day, best day for running in 2009! Just wanted to enjoy the run, so very easy 7:00 pace for 6M then just eased it back home for the last mile at 7:22 to save the legs for tomorrows 10K and extra miles for a big run. (T2)

Community Care Fitness 10K in Idaho Falls, new 10K PR of 34:05.  "Official" time was 33:30, but I had the course at just under 6.1M so I ran an additional bit to finish it off. 1st overall by over 1 minute and a new PR in a timed 10K by 1.5 minutes.

It was an absolutely beautiful day for a run...44 degrees and no wind, lots of sunshine.  Ran 2.5M warmup with Lynette then got ready to race.

I wore shorts, singlet, light gloves and arm warmers and was actually a bit hot (didn't need the arm warmers at the end).   Pat B. and I lined up at the front (he was doing the 5K) and some new young guy named Steve was next to us and indicated a desire to run a 35 minute 10K, so I knew I was going to have some competition today on this totally flat course. 

First mile was good, but a bit fast at 5:19 (Pat and I looked at our watches at 0.5M when we started to slow it back down and we were running 4:55-5:00!)  then I settled into around a 5:30-5:35 pace for the remainder of the run.  Pat started to gap us (Steve was still running with me through about 2.25M) and he finished the 5K loop in sub 17 ("official time of 16:08ish for 2.95M or so), I hit the "5K" finish at 16:20ish, heard my GPS beep at my 3M mark at 16:40ish. 

At the beginning of the second loop (5K) I started to push a bit more to and put a gap on Steve.  Everytime I would make a 90 degree turn, I would accelerate for about .1M to increase the lead.  At 5M, I started to develop a slight side ache so I concentrated on my breathing to settle in down and it mostly went away but slowed me to about a 5:40ish pace.  I entered the park and started to pick up the pace again when I got within about .25M of the finish.  Ran through the finish at 33:30 and continued on for about 0.13M to finish a "real" 10K in 34:05. 

Realized that my turnover rate is really good, but my power needs to improve.  I could get the feet moving but it raised my heartrate and breathing too much.  When I toed-off more and got my power involved, it all settled back down and the effort was better.  Focuse on improving power between now and Boston.

Afterwards, ran about 0.75M with Steve and chatted, then about 4M with Pat and Lynette. Pat left, then Lynette and I finished a long day (at an easy pace) for a total of 20.5M.  Whew, I am tired. Then home to do honey-do's like get the swings up and set up the trampoline for the kids.  (Tangent 1)

Easy 6M run early before church this morning.  40 degrees and no wind was great (it is blowing and snowing outside as I write this at 2:30!).   Effort was easy and I focused on a nice easy turnover rate and increased my power and toe-off which really felt good.

8M on the TM at the gym this morning as it was blowing snow/sleet outside...not happenin'!  2.5M easy (6:40) then the rest of the way around 6:20 except for one 0.5M pickup at 5:30.  Overall felt good, actually better after the run than before.  (Stratos 2)

Supposed to warm up and stop snowing/raining today so I hope to get about 6M in at lunch.  I just checked out the results from the Shamrock Marathon from Sunday, which I almost ran...dang it, dang it!  Master's winner was a 2:46...could have been the Master's winner in a big race (and maybe even top 5!).  Oh well, hindsight is 50/50 (and the pocket book appreciated it) and I gotta remember that Boston is the goal race for this spring.  Shamrock 2010...here I come (and watch some really fast master's show up next year...seems that I run my spring marathons 1 year off either way preventing me from getting a higher placement).

6M at lunch around the greenbelt.  42 degrees, cloudy and about 13mph wind...ok day for running.  Nice easy run at avg. 6:54 pace, left hammy a bit sore so I didn't push anything.  I tried to focus on running with more toe-off and no worries about turnover rate and when it hit, my effort was easy and the pace was good.  (T2)

8M easy this morning early outside.  Cool (29 degrees) and a bit windy.  Nice and easy pace though I did get faster and felt more peppy as the run progressed (no pace, did not wear GPS).  (T3)

4.5M at lunch on a good day...38 degrees, no wind, party sunny. Overall a good even paced run aroung 6:50ish with the hammy feeling a lot better. This was one of those ethereal runs...it felt almost like my body was on auto-pilot while my mind was on other things and I barely noticed running, kinda strange. (T2)

7M early this morning in cool temp (29 degrees) and light wind. Very easy run as I was really tired for some reason and just didn't have the get up and go this morning. No hammy issues though!(T3)

4.5M at lunch on a warmer (36 degrees) day with no wind (which meant I was overdressed). Ran 1.25M with Dan then pushed harder. At the 2.25M turnaround, I noticed Dan about 0.75M ahead (turned around earlier) and I tried to catch him before getting back to the building. End up about 0.1M short of catching him. Good run, tired legs! (T2)

8.5M run on the TM at the gym since it was so cold and windy outside.  Averaged 6:32 for the run, but increased the speed up at the run progressed and bumped up the incline from 2 to 3.5%.  Overall a good run but I was tired and the motivation to keep going was tough. (Stratos 3)

5M at lunch on sunny but cold and very windy day.  I ran the 1M loop around Freeman Park to try and get some relief from the wind (it helped a little).  An amazingly consistent paced run today (7:00 exactly for each of the first 4M, 6:55 for mile 5).   I was ready to be done.  (T2)

13.1M run on a cold (10 degrees) but calm morning.  I slept in a bit since it was my day off and got out the door at 6:15.  First 2M really easy then I picked up the pace for the next 8M averaging about a 6:55 for these miles.  At 10M, I started to feel the lack of fuel (and tired from staying up a bit late with friends watching a movie and having a few beers) and dropped pace back down to about 7:15 average for the remainder of the run.  Overall an OK run at a 7:09 average pace.

Family is heading up to Driggs, ID to spend the weekend with some friends at their condo.  Will probably take the kids skiing for their first time to see if it something they might want to do more of next year.  Besides that, relax, party a little and just have fun getting out of town. 

10M run in Driggs, ID early.  Ran south on Main for 3M into a stiff headwind then turned back and went up the Targhee Mountain road for 2M then headed back to the condo.  Cold at the start but was very hot by the end.  Overall a good easy run in 1:14.  (T3)

3M running down the bunny hill (magic carpet run) healing the kids try out downhill skiing for the first time.  The hill is about 0.1M long and I was running down and sometime back up for most the day as the kids learned to "make a pizza" and "french fry" down the hill.  By the end of the day my daughter had it down and was going by herself while my son nearly got the hang of it by himself.  A good intro to skiing that we will do more of next winter.  I am pooped after doing this in snowboats!

When we woke up in Driggs, it was a blizzard so no run.   We drove home in the clearing time after most of the snow stopped there but the wind was nasty all the way back to IF.  Back in IF, a blizzard roared in shortly after we arrived with driving snow and wind and near white out conditions.  So after my wife went to the gym, I went and ran 7M on the TM.  1.5M easy, 5.5M at MP (6:22 - 5:46).  Stomach is upset so it was a harder run and I am not feeling great after the run either.  

I was tired this morning and my stomach was still not 100%, so getting up was tough. It was still cold, windy and very icy on the roads this morning, so I went to the TM at the gym.  Started off really easy and only really got going at about the 3M mark.  I threw in 1.5M MP at mile 6.5, then eased back off for an overall average pace of 6:35.  My wife is feeling sick (still, started feeing bad yesterday, I wonder if it is the Mexican food we had Saturday night?) and I am just a little better.  Hope it goes away soon.  (Stratos 3)

7.5M early this morning.  It was cool with a little breeze...not bad but still cold enough to make it difficult to want to run hard, so it was just an easier run (avg. 7:35 pace).  Started slow and picked it up to 7:10ish pace for several of the miles.  Will try to go hard at lunch.  (T3)

8.1M at lunch with Pat B. down on the greenbelt on a very windy day. We had 6X800's planned. We ran 2M warmup then hit our half mile intervals with quarter's for recovery:

1 - 3:00 directly into a hard headwind

2 - 2:54 Mostly into a head wind and on rolling hills

3 - 2:41 Half and half with/in wind, on rolling hills

4 - 2:54 Into wind, on hills

5 - 2:40 Mostly with wind at our backs, on rolling hills

6 - 2:39 Wind at our backs, flat

3M cooldown back to the building. Overall a good speed workout. (T2)

I am still 50/50 on running Strider's HM on Saturday. Pros: good measure of fitness, competition good for last hard workout, make MP effort feel easier, fairly close, have a place to stay. Cons: $, time, take a deposit away from family, travel all next week, weather predictions. Plus the weather here is looking really good and I could go out for some hills are/or 10K time trial. Decisions, decisions (may be made at last minute!)