Philippians 4:13

I am really pissed off at Delta Airlines right now.  Our plane to SLC last night had mechanical issues which caused us to take off about 1.5 hours late and we hit the ground in SLC at the same time our flight was scheduled to depart to IF (a terminal flight for the day, so they were staying overnight) and they wouldn't hold the flight for us (there were at least 3 of us on the plane who needed to make the connection)!  5 minutes and we could have made it, but no, Delta offers to put us all up in a hotel and on a flight this morning...screw that so we rented a car and drove home arriving at around 2am...I am tired.

6.2M in 41:40 after sleeping in and being home with the kids since my wife had to work this morning and my parents couldn't watch the kids.  Beautiful weather at 8am this morning...sunny, warm and calm.

We went camping last night up in Teton Canyon and had a great time.  We got up early and went to see the hot air balloons lift off then went back for a breakfast and a hike.  We hiked up towards Table Mountain for about 2.5 hours, so I am counting it as 6 miles easy due to the elevation changes.  What a fantastic place to camp and spend quality family time!

I was going to try and get out for a quick run once we got home but we got really busy.  5K tomorrow morning before the parade, let's see if I can finally get a different time than the last 3 years.

I woke up to cold and windy conditions...45 degrees and 20-30mph wind.  3.75M warmup then we started the race at 7:15am.  Ken Richardson from Ogden was in town and a bunch of college/HS kids took off and I kept then in easy range for the first mile but my stomach was having issues again.  I passed a few guys who didn't pace themselves well and ran with a kid from Nampa through 2 mile mark then hit the head wind going back to the finish line.  This was not my day and I was not challenged but had no oomph today and cruised into the finish in 17:55 for 6th overall.  Bad day, bad race...just let it go.  Stood around in the cold for a while then I ran home to shower and gather the family for parade.  Looks like it is going to be a cool day but at least it is improving!  

A beautiful morning for a run, so I decided to tackle Sunnyside Hill to try and make up for yesterday's crappy race.  1 mile warmup then 5 miles up and over Sunnyside Hill and back down the other side about 1 mile and then returned back down to the truck with a cooldown mile.  Up to the top (5 miles uphill in 39 minutes) then back down at a slow 5:40 average pace.  Total time of 1:46:50.  Now off to spend time with the family and do a few chores around the house!

A nice morning for a run with a strong wind out of the south.  3M easy to the high school track then I did 6x1200 with 400 recovery.  Legs tired from the effort yesterday, so pretty slow but I took advantage of the day off to get them in. Splits: 4:22, 4:24, 4:33, 4:33, 4:36, 4:23.  I ran home 4M easy effort to finish off the run in 1:30:28.  More time with the family and doing some chores for the rest of the day.

4:30am...6M very slow recovery.  I am really tired after the efforts on Sat-Mon along with all the yard/house work.  The next couple of days will be very easy days.  (Defyance)

6M easy at lunch with Dan on an absolutely beautiful day.  Slow and easy with good conversation.  We picked up Pat at about 4M and had a nice chat all the way back to the office.  Total time of 46:40.  (Ride 2010)

7M really easy again this morning as I am still sore and tired from the weekend's efforts.  It was pretty cool this morning, especially for early July!  (Defyance)

I stayed home today since my daughter had a medical appointment that required someone to watch over her.  Since my wife had deadlines at work, I stayed with her.  I got out for a late afternoon run in great weather...75 degrees and a light wind.  I ran a 6M MP run through SRL and back in 38:14 which felt very controlled and easy, which is surprising to how fatigued my legs are this week.  (Ride 2010)

4:30am...7M easy through SRL and back on a cool but nice morning.  Just getting it done.  (Defyance)

Interesting article on Runningtimes.com:  http://www.runningtimes.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=19997.

6M at lunch with Dan in 42:50 on a beautiful day...warm with a very light breeze.  Nice easy run with good conversation.   Now, Yellowstone here we come!  (Ride 2010)

Drove to Madison Junction campground for our 3 nights in the park, very excited as we haven't been her since before the kids were born!

No run, but lots of hiking and walking on a full day in Yellowstone National Park.  We visited and hiked at Firehole Basin, Fountain Paint Pots, Old Faithful, West Thumb and Lake Lodge.  

Another full day in the park hiking and taking in the sites.  This time we did the northern loop and visited Norris Geyser Basin, Mammoth Hot Springs, Tower Falls and the Canyon area.  All told I am going to take credit for 6 miles over the past 2 days.

Our last morning in Yellowstone National Park, what a great mini-vacation!  Went to Church at the Madison Junction Ampitheater...now that is the best sanctuary I have ever been in!  Mt. Haynes as the backdrop with the Gibbons and Firehole Rivers forming the Madison with a herd of elk and bison in the background!  Experience God in all His glory!

After getting home and getting the camper taken care of, I went out around 5pm for a good run after a couple of good days off.  6.35M in 43:15 for a nice paced run in very warm temps.  Ran to Community Park for a couple of loops then back home through Tauphaus Park.  Good to get the legs going again. 

4:30am...7.3M in 59 minutes, the second half with Andrea.  Ugh, back to these early morning runs!  (Defyance)

6.75M in 51 minutes easy running with Pat on a warm and windy day.  Just nice and easy with some good conversation.  (Ride 2010)

4:15am...8M very easy in 1:05:30 on a pleasant morning.  Just a normal early morning run.  (Defyance)

4.5M at lunch on a hot day (80 degrees) and very windy (30mph with 40mph gusts) crosswind that made it hard to run in a straight line!  32:11 total time for the run in between meetings.  (Ride 2010)

4:30am...8M through SRL in 1:01:30.  Cooler morning but no wind.  Feeling old today on my 42nd birthday.  (Defyance)

Nice run at lunch today on the desert in great weather.  2.25M easy with my coworker Ron (who is training to run the Provo Half on Aug 7) then after turning around I did a few fartleks to pick up the pace then circle around to check on Ron.  I did 3x3 minutes of high knee pickups then burned home the last 1/4 mile to finish 5 miles in 38:40.  Ron did great and finished 4.65 miles in the same time.  (Ride 2010)

4:15am...6.75 very slow miles this morning.  Stayed up a bit late so I was a little tired so this morning I don't think I really woke up until mile 4!  Did I mention this was a very slow run?  (Defyance)

6.5M in 43:40 on a beautiful day at lunch.  Ran mostly in the 6:45 range but with a few pickup and 6 barefoot strides at the end for 0.3M.  Overall a nice comfortable run.  (Ride 2010)

Anothe good article on Runningtimes.com, this time on proper form:  http://www.runningtimes.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=20120

4:30am...out the door early for my run so we can get the house ready today for my wife's birthday party.  10M in 1:21 through SRL, down Sunnyside and through the neighborhood a little.  Started slow, ended faster (sub-7:00 pace) so a nice progression once I woke up!  

Busy day but going to have a fun party with good friends, good food, a band in the backyard and lots of BEER!  

Now, that was a party!  Lots of great food, friend's to help roast Kami on her fabulous 40th, floated the keg and drained lots of Hard lemonade and bottles of wine and the band played great music til they couldn't see anymore!  Lots of fun dancing (ok some, many of our participants were bumps on a log and wouldn't dance) to 70's/80's/90's music.  We even had a visit from the IF Police to quiet down (which we had already done at 10pm and the cop recognized it and laughed it off!).  Then up to 1am talking with old friends!

Andrea wouldn't let me sleep in and dragged me to a local half marathon in Ririe Idaho early this morning...4 hours of sleep and copious amounts of beer do NOT enhance race performance, but they didn't drag me down that bad either!

About 60 people in the race, no other fast guy so I knew this was going to be a solo race.  Ran this one last year in 1:15:42 at the end of a 100 mile week, this time at the end of an 85 mile week and big party.  Started at Kelly Canyon then down the hill and on the flats of the farm land to Ririe.   Start the race by fueling first with a PowerBar Gel  then head to the starting line. This race starts very fast, then a climb at 4 miles and flat the rest of the way. 

First 2 miles averaging 4:55 then rolled into a 5:55-6:10 pace for the rest of the run on a cloudy, warmish and pretty windy (at times) day.  I hit the 5K mark in 15:55 and the 10K mark in 34:30 (second 5K includes a good hill and a cobbled dirt road).  Mile 6 was on a cobbly dirt road along the river which slowed me down a bit.   I ran nice and controlled but I tried to push on little sleep and was feeling mostly good through 11 miles at which point I really had to concentrate on form. 

1st overall in 1:16:36 (second place was 1:33!) to finish less than 1 minute slower than last year.  Not bad for jumping into another half marathon at the last minute for an easy win (second in a row this summer) and a good effort.  

It is now time to clean up the house and get the camper ready for our time on the Selway River!

No run today as we had a 9 hour drive to our annual week long camp trip on the Selway River in Central Idaho.  North up through Missoula then west over Lolo Pass to Camp O'Hara.  One of the nicest places on Earth!

Besides, my left calf is trashed from yesterday's race.

No run up at camp today (left calf is still sore!) but a 24 mile mountain bike ride with Kami up to Selway Falls in 2 hours...an awesome ride through God's country!

6M run down the Selway River early, then another ride up to Selway Falls with my father in-law while Kami kicked our butts (for another 7 miles of easy run equivalent).   Then we played in the river more with the kid's and had more relaxation in the woods.  Great people, great scenery, great food...great vacation!  (Defyance)

9 mile run down the Selway road early before another fun day at camp!  Played in the river, ate good food, drank good beer...a good day!

8 mile run early on the normal route (which is absolutely beautiful!) before taking a drive to Kamiah to get some meds for my daughter's ear ache.  Then a float down the Selway with the family!  

10 mile run early then a hard and fast 24 mile ride to the Selway Falls with Kami and I actually kept up this time.  Last day at camp, really bummed to have to head back to reality tomorrow.

No run today as we had a 10 hour drive back home to IF today...man am I tired but actually glad to be home (but camp was a total blast!) after a week in the camper.   Awesome vacation at Camp O'Hara...again!

8M after sleeping in a bit and going out on a nice morning through SRL and back. Nice and easy start to the week in 56 minutes flat. Hoping to get some speed work in this week and a good long run on Friday or Saturday.

4:15am...7M very slow as this is my first run in a week at this hour and on less than 8 hours of sleep.  Back to the real world and work today.  (Defyance)

6.1M at lunch on a calm, sunny and warm day.  1M at slow MP then 5M at tinman tempo pace for a total time of 39 minutes.   Nice easy run but felt like this was about all I had today which is disappointing.  Try to hit some better runs later in the week.  (Ride)

4:30am...a slow easy 6M early this morning.  Just a normal morning run.  (Defyance)

Speedwork at lunch today trying out my new Saucony Kinvara shoes that I got from the company.  Nice shoes, very light (6.7 ounces!).  Warm and sunny day with a light breeze, perfect for speedwork.  1.5M w/u then the intervals:  2x0.25M (74, 77...4:56 and 5:08 pace!), 3x0.5M (2:43, 2:47, 2:44...avg. 5:30 pace), 2x0.25M (77, 83 - let up on this last one).  Cooldown back to the office for a total of 7 miles in 45:44.  I feel good about the times on the intervals and the shoes worked great!  (Kinvara)

4:20am...I had company on my early morning run for the first time in ages.  Curt W. and I ran a decent paced 8 miles through Snake River Landing and back with a 0.5M extension on Sunnyside in 1:00:25 (7:33 pace).  Nice to have the company and conversation and push to go a little faster this early.  (Defyance)

I may not get a lunch run in today due to work meetings and a dentist appointment this afternoon, but I might go out after work for a short run.   No run after doctor's appointment, instead I spent time with the kids (ice cream, playing Wii, bike ride, etc.) for a nice family time after work.  Plus, a major thunderstorm rolled in about the time I wanted to go out, so an easy day!

Early morning 6 mile run...I had nothing today, NOTHING!  Very slow and sore (hips were really tight).  I had time to go longer but why extend this misery...hopeful for a better long run at lunch today.  (Defyance)

Planning a 20 miler tomorrow which I will likely combine with hill work and run the Sunnyside hill (out and back) twice so I can have a midway stop for fuel/hydration as well.

10 miles on a warm day at lunchtime from the office to Pancheri and back for the big river loop.  I really tried to focus on trying a form improvement where I extend my hips more on the kick.  It seemed to work really well as my pace picked up but the effort did not feel much change.  After about 6 miles I started to feel the change for this first run so I started to ease it back and relax for the last 3 miles to finish in a total time of 1:07:40.  (Ride 2010)

2 reference articles forming the basis of my form improvement efforts:

http://uvaendurosport.wordpress.com/2010/07/09/runners-world-asked-us-whats-the-single-biggest-problem-in-running/

http://runningtimes.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=19948&PageNum=1

A hard workout today.  After sleeping in due to a late night at the emergency room with my son for a terrible earache, I left for my run after Kami got back from the gym at 7:30.  I combined my long run with a hill workout and ran 18 of the hardest miles in Idaho Falls!  I ran up and over Sunnyside hill then another 4 miles out on the big rollers towards Bone.  Essentially, I ran most of legs 2,3,6, and 7 of the To Bone and Back (the hard 20 miles of the 40 mile course).  The first 9 miles were into a good headwind (running up with a headwind on Sunnyside is a bitch!) but it kept things cool. 

I stopped at 9 miles and had a gel, but I didn't have any water (since I changed plans during the run).  On the way back it was getting warm and I bumped into a construction worker on the wind farm project (installing 83 more wind turbines on the hills above IF!) and he graciously let me have a bottle of water and we chatted for a few minutes.  At 13 miles, I got to the downhill portion of the course and was able to speed up but was starting to feel the effects of the hills.  At 18 miles, I was done but I stretch out another 1.1M for a 19.1M total in 2:22, which isn't too bad (7:34 average) considering the hills.  

Now for a day with the family on my day off!

Ran and easy run with Andrea this morning on a great morning...cool with a breeze.  Legs a bit stiff from yesterday and Andrea's hamstring was acting up so nice and easy for 10.1M in 1:20 (3 by myself, 7 with Andrea).  Ran harder for about 1 mile at the end to catch McKay so Andrea would have someone to finish her run with after I headed home.  My daughter's swim meet is today, looking forward to seeing how much she has improved over the summer.