Philippians 4:13

4:30am...6 easy untimed miles with Moxie on a chilly (28 degrees) but calm morning.  Bumped into Andrea, Alana and Curt.  (Ride 3)

4 miles in 26:30 (6:37 AP) on a cool and breezy day on the desert.  (Mirage)

A group of us were interviewed by one of the local TV stations today about going to the Boston marathon.

4:30am...a repeat of yesterday, nearly exactly.  6 miles with Moxie easy on a cool morning. (Ride 3)

6 miles in 41:30 on a cool and breezy day.  Just ran easy and never got rained on (though it looked like it was going to open up any minute!).  (Mirage)

Early run with Curt this morning.  7 miles along Sunnyside just having fun catching up.  (Ride 3)

6 miles in 43:22 at lunch on a nice day for a run.  Just an easy day today. (Mirage)

Proud of Justin about his track meet today.  He ran a very solid 800m in 2:32 (was leading most the way and just got passed at the end when he let up to save it for the 1600m).  Then he ran a solid 5:41 in the mile!  I know he is a bit disappointed with the place but this is a building block and lesson on racing to apply through the season.

I slept in and went out at 5:30am for a run with Moxie.  I started slower then picked it up on the way back and threw in some intervals.  7 miles in 49:15.  

I stopped at home to get the kids ready for school and went back out a couple of hours later.  I ran at a decent clip to SRL and back for 6 miles in 39:30 with some good hard intervals in this run too.  Only had a cup of coffee and part of a waffle in between.  Feel pretty good.  (Ride 3)

I got nearly no sleep last night (ok, 3 hours) but got up and out the door at 5am to meet Curt and Andrea for an easy run.  We ran 8 miles to the greenbelt via SRL and back.  Super tired and slow. (Ride 3)

I grabbed Justin and we went to the track to meet John and Richard for some intervals.  We ran 3 miles to warm up then Justin and I ran 6x400m with 200m recovery at between 78 - 84 seconds.  We ran about 0.5M cooldown for 5.5 miles total.  Now off to watch my daughters swim meet this morning.  With Kami's spinning class this morning, we did a family triathlon!  (Boost)

Got a good night sleep last night and went out for a run before church.  Good run this morning on a nice but morning (in shorts!) with Moxie in an honest effort.  5 miles in about 32 minutes which felt very controlled and easy.  (Tangent 3)

4 easy untimed miles with Justin and Moxie early this morning along Sunnyside.  (Ride 3)

7 miles at lunch at goal MP (5:59) in 41:53 on a very nice day for a run...warm, sunny and light breeze.  Splits: 6:01, 5:58, 5:58, 6:00, 5:50, 6:02, 6:02.   Felt ok, a bit harder than I wanted but not too bad.  (Mirage)

Marlin, Kami and I were interviewed by one of the local TV stations today about going to the Boston Marathon.

4:30am...early and easy 10K with Moxie along Sunnyside.  Slow and tight, likely only run today due to work schedule and evening band concert. (Ride 3)

3.3miles after work to enjoy the sunshine. (Tangent 3)

I received confirmation today that I will be a member of a PowerBar panel at the Boston Marathon Expo to discuss nutrition and racing (pre/during/post) as a top age group runner.  Going to be fun!

No morning run today as I was very tired.  Justin had a band conert last night that went late then I had to reinstall programs on our computer after getting the OS refreshed over the weekend so I was up past midnight.  Plus for some reason my right groin was a bit tender last night.  I will try to get an easy run in at lunch today to enjoy the weather (and wind!).

6 miles in 44 minutes running with Dan S for 5 of them.  A really nice day for a run besides the wind...warm, sunny!  Nice to get out and chat and blow off some steam.  Groin/hip was feeling good during the run and even better afterwards but I will still watch it.  (Mirage)

Still tired this morning from the lack of sleep yesterday and my hip was still achy.  So, I skipped the morning run and will likely take the next two days off to let the hip/groin heal.

No run, letting my groin rest and feel better.  Had a massage today and he was able to pinpoint the tender ligament...hope it helps.

Conference call with PowerBar TeamElite folks today!

5am...out for an 8 mile run with Curt through SRL to the greenbelt and back.  Nice run with great company.  Added on a couple more miles then went to the gym with Kami to set up PowerBar products for the last day of Ride Across America party (PowerBar sponsored the event).  Ran home from the gym to get a total of 12.25 miles in 1:32.  My hip actually felt great...good news!

Now off to the Ribgy Invitational track meet to watch Justin run (3200m, 800m and maybe the 1600m too!).  1 mile or so of warming up with Justin doing some fast strides.  I am very proud of him, he did very well in his races (12:03, 2:41, 5:51) and nearly did not get to run 3200m due to poor coaching adminstration...good thing I know a few folks to work with to help out!   (Ride 3)

Lots of drama during the events.  I went with Justin and Braedon to check in for the 3200m and the official said they were not on the list and there were no late adds.  Apparently no Taylorview coach went to the coaches meeting right before the event to check the rosters for late add/drop and they had not registered the runners correctly.  After talking to the head meet coordinator (whom I know) and the District 91 T&F program lead, we were able to get the kids in (only 3200m on this side of the state this season...won't let a kid in who WANTS to run it? Please!).  Justin was furious and ready to leave the meet but I got him settled down and he ran great after we got him on the list just in the knick of time!  Inept coaching this year.  The lady helping out with the distance kids is very nice though and really trying to learn and is very impressed with Justin!

6:45am...went out with Moxie for a run on a windy and cool morning.  Nice up tempo run (untimed) with my hip feeling Great...no pain or issue at all!   Nice start to the taper week, getting excited to go to Beantown with all my friends!  (Ride 3)

Skipped the morning run to sleep in.  I was going to go short, but it was 21 degrees...so I bailed.  Going harder at lunch then maybe after work with Justin.

Conference call today with the nutritionist who is on the Nutrition Panel this weekend at the PowerBar booth...this is going to be fun!  The panel discussion takes place at 11:30am on Saturday and Sunday...stop by to say hi or heckle me!

Went out for my last tempo run before the Boston Marathon.  Ate a PowerBar Fruit EnergyBlend then out to the the run.  Ran 1 mile easy with Dan S. then into my 6 mile tempo.  I ran along the greenbelt to Bill's Bike and Run and stopped in for a PowerBar gel (testing my GI track for compatability for the race).  Splits: 5:54, 6:04, 6:00, 5:57, 6:02, 6:11 (slowed down on purpose) (right at 6:00 AP).  0.25M cooldown for 7.25 miles in 45:45 (6:18 AP).  Everything felt good and easy, including my hip (it may have been older shoes which I have retired).  (Mirage Red)

5:00am...went out on a nice morning with Moxie for a short easy run.  At the 4 mile turnaround, we saw Alana, Andrea, Curt, Gama and Shannon who were running 5 miles.  So I ran the rest of the way with them having some good conversation.  5 easy miles with good friends...hard to beat! (Ride 3)

5 mile easy progression run in 36:30 outside in windy and cool conditions.  Splits: 7:46, 7:28, 7:21, 7:13, 6:42.  Nice and easy and no issues...besides taper madness. (Mirage Red)

Moment of silence today at 12:49 MDT for those impacted by the Boston Bombing this day last year.

4:45am...5 easy untimed miles with Moxie along Sunnyside on a cool and calm morning.  Only run today...taper madness is hard!  (Fastwitch Red)

Nice easy 5 mile run at lunch around the greenbelt in 34:30...felt great and strong!  (Fastwitch Red)

No run, travel day and Red Sox game!  We arrived in Boston around 4:30 and met Marlin and Mauri at the hotel.  We waited a bit for Lynette to arrive but she was having issues at the airport so we headed downtown to meet the crew at the game.  It was freezing out!  Fun to catch up with folks and have a Sausage and a brew, but man oh man we were cold.  Got back to the hotel really late and we were very tired.

No run, we slept in then went to the expo.  I had a great time meeting up with all my friends from PowerBar and beingn on the panel discussion at PowerBar with Josh Cox, Sarah Reinersten and Eric Zaltas.  A decent crowd but it could have been better.  Wow, was the expo crowded...we had to get out a couple of times just to stay sane.  Went to the Hoyt's presentation then lunch at the Pru then back to finish off the expo.  Highlight was stopping by the Athens Marathon expo and talking with a very nice Greek guy,  he gave us a finisher's medal from the 2011 Athens marathon for Justin!  

A very Busy day with a finish at Atlantic Fish Co. for our anniversary dinner.  On the way back to the hotel we stopped by the PowerBar Party at the Bell in Hand to say hi and talk with folks.  A nice time but would have been more fun if they had left it on Monday night.  Ate way to much and ended up puking that night due to too much food.  Also started to lose my voice and get a scratchy throat today.

He is Risen!

3.25 miles with Marlin down to Revere Beach before Easter Service. After the service we went to brunch at the church and talked to some very nice folks including a marathoner (Mike J.) from Minnesota who knows friends of ours who just moved to Boise...small world!

To the expo and Panel Discussion.  I even had someone ask me for my autograph! Another great day with PowerBar including meeting the founder and talking with the President of the company for a while and meeting Jenny Maxwell (PowerBar founder) and her fiancee, Jeff Rosen .  Great people!

Then off to the IF Runners dinner for a great pasta dinner and fun!  On the way back to the T, we walked through Boston Commons and into the middle of HempFest!  Hope there are no drug tests for mid-packers tomorrow...man I guess I really don't care...ooh, pretty butterflies!  Relaxed in the hot tub with Marlin and Mauri then off to early bedtime.  Ready to roll!

2:39:00 today!  1st Idahoan, 298 Overall, 8th in 45-49 AG!  Executed my plan perfectly and felt great!  More to report later!  (Tangent 4)  An awesome race today, I stayed patient and executed my plan exactly how I wanted to letting others go when I knew I needed to stay easy so I could run strong later.  Went to my mantra "God give me strength" often and He did!

One of my best races ever!   Thanks to all the IF runners for being such great friends, especially to Marlin and Nate for riding the buses and hanging out together at the athlete village. The bus ride to the high school took forever and was causing issues with the well hydrated runners.  We got the village and found a good spot in the sun to relax and hit the PoP several times.  I fueled up on PowerBar EnergyBlends and the new Performance Energy wafers and was ready to go. The announcement came for  Wave 1 corrals 1-3 to leave and I ran to the starting line for the warmup.  It went from cool the warm in a matter of minutes and was shedding my outer layer quickly.

I saw Walter at the start and the runners from the Phoenix Banditos team and was going to try to run with them but we had different plans and drifted apart. I wanted to go out conservative and use the hills wisely to conserve energy.  Well the first mile was a bit fast but ok (6:00) along with the next 2 miles.  Walter was ready to go and took off so I let him go and settled in near the Banditos team.  Nice guys but in a zone and competitive mode so I just ran near them not in the pack as  Bret had invited me to do.  Nice and easy for the next few miles hitting right around 6:00 pace pretty easy.  I took my first PowerBar gel at mile 7 and it gave me a boost.  Had a bit of hip twinge at mile 9/10 but told myself I was not going to let that happen and prayed to make it go away, and it did!  Fun running through all the towns and HUGE crowds.  Wellesley did not disappoint and was as loud as ever and fun to high 5 all the girls!  I hit the half  mark at 1:18:19 right on the mark I wanted. I took another PowerBar gel right around 12/14 miles to keep the fuel tank up.  I was taking water/Gatorade every stop and dumping water every stop to keep cool on a warmish day today.

Around mile 15 I caught up to Walter and prayed that he would latch on and we could run together.  I tried to stay consistent and not give too much back through the Newton hills and ran right on my projected splits for the second half.  Around mile 17 I saw the first Bandito runner coming back to me and passed him.  I tried to stay nice and patient as the hills started and prayed a lot!  I crested Heartbreak at exactly the pace I wanted and started to open it up on the downhill and saw another Bandito coming back so I poured it on and was feeling great.  I felt stronger through here than at the half!  It was great being in Boston and the crowd was amazing and full of energy!

I was hoping for a closer to even split (1:18/1:19 or 1:20) but I will take the 1:20:40 second half gladly.   I ended up passing lots of people in the second half and saw lots of runners cramping up badly and I felt so bad for them.  I ran by Derek at mile 24 and wished him well and hoped he would run with me to keep me going.

The turn onto Boylston was amazing...what energy!  I pushed hard in the last 0.25M and passed two more runners and just missed the sub 2:39 but I am ecstatic with the result.  My fastest Boston yet, 10 minutes faster than my first 8 years ago!  I have been the first Idahoan every time I have run here and give God the glory for this run and the healing opportunity it provided all of us!

This Boston marathon was another amazing experience (they all have been tremendous) and it was great to share it again with so many friends.  Nice to see Lynette, Marlin, Andrea and Alana at the finishers area but it was cold downtown so Marlin, Mauri, Kami and I left to go get our bags and head the hotel to recuperate.  After the race in the family meeting area a young guy came up to me and said: "Hey, you are the PowerBar guy!  I used the tips all of you told me about this race and I ran a 6 minute PR!  Thanks!".  That was cool, glad what we talked about helped someone do great!

We were too tired to make it back downtown and ended up sitting in the hot tub and having dinner at the hotel with some other marathoners (Richard Hirst, you are a great guy!).  Lots of fun but and emotional day but now very tired.   Wow, Boston is the best race in the world!

Splits: 6:00, 5:44, 5:55, 5:53, 6:02, 5:47, 5:52, 5:56, 5:56, 6:02, 6:06, 5:57, 6:02, 5:59, 6:03, 5:47, 6:13, 6:03, 6:10, 6:27 (heartbreak), 5:51, 6:02, 6:02, 6:16, 6:22, 6:01 pace for 0.2M.

No run, day to explore Boston and have some fun with Kami!  We walked about 4 miles today to see the memorial exhibit at the Public Library then through the North End and Quincy Market area.  Nice lunch at Umberto Galleria and dessert at Modern Bakery and a beer at the Bell in Hand...and coffee from Dunkins.  Now very tired and ready to go home.

No run today as we had an early flight back home.  Starting to feel sick (headache, stuffy ears, sore throat) that I was able to push off past Monday.  Nice to see the kids and be home, but not for the cold and windy weather. 

5.5 easy miles with Curt and Moxie on a cool morning along Sunnyside.  Legs are feeling pretty good.  thanks for the run, Curt!  (Ride 3)

5 miles at lunch in 39 minutes on a windy day before the rain started.  Legs still tired but getting better quickly. (Fastwitch Red)

5:15am...5 very easy miles with Moxie along Sunnyside.  Ran into Curt and chatted for a bit then caught up to Kari and her friends and talked for a bit of the run.  Sore legs. (Ride 3)

6am...Justin and I went out and met up with Craig, Curt and Lynette for a run on pretty nice morning (though storm clouds are looming).  Started easy but threw in several pickups to MP or better with Justin and Craig.  A nice run with a good group, proud to have Justin part of it!  8.5 mile total. (Ride 3)

Went to breakfast with a college friend this morning before church then a long morning at church (but good!).  Went out for a run in the early afternoon with the whole family!  Kami, Katelyn, Justin and I all went out for 2 miles then Justin and I did a 5K in pretty decent effort (20 minutes) for a total of 5.1M today.  Right hammy still tight but getting better! (Mirage Red)

4:30am...6 untimed easy miles with Moxie along Sunnyside on a cool but calm morning.  Hard time getting up this morning but got out the door.  (Ride 3)

6.3 miles with Dan around the greenbelt to Pancheri and back.  Nice easy pace having a good chat the whole way.  Right hammy still a bit tight but improving.  We finished up right before the snow started...good thing because we were in shorts!  (Fastwitch Red)

A very busy week of all day meetings so this will be a light running week but heavy on stress!

4am...7 slow easy miles with Moxie along Sunnyside on a cool but calm morning.  Right leg getting a lot better.  Very busy day at work today..ugh! (Ride 3)

4:00am...a repeat of yesterday along Sunnyside.  Another busy day at work then Justin's track meet tonight. Hoping to see him bust out a stellar mile!  (Ride 3)