Philippians 4:13

Got back late last night from travel, feeling crappy.  No run this monring as I still don't feel good, my wife had to go to work at 5:30am and it was cold outside...no motivation to run. 

Going into work for a bit to get some things cleared up/started then see what the day brings (work, home to sleep, run...not quite sure yet).

6.2M on a sunny but windy and cold day at lunch today.  Had to get out of the office, not feeling quite bad enough to go lie down and actually felt better running than just sitting at my desk.  Overall average pace of 6:55 with the last 3M faster than the first 3.  Not a bad run for being kinda sick. 

Still somewhat under the weather so I decided to skip the morning run and sleep in to get some rest.  Cold mostly in the sinuses now, hopefully on its way out.  I will run longer at lunch today.

10M on a cool but calm and sunny day after work.  I ran the whole greenbelt loop from Freeman Park to Sunnyside Bridge and back.  Started easy, through in a few slow MP pickups along the way.  Fastest mile was mile 9 at 6:45.  Overall a good run, feeling a bit better (I hope I am on the mend).

As of 9/29, I can still only verify 3 other runners registered for Indy that have run under 2:50 in the past couple of years.  Still have time for a few of the past champs to sign up and I will have to wait and see if Chuck Engle comes back to run it again (champ last year in 2:37)...he usually doesn't even tell the RD until a day or two before the race.

Slept in this morning and waited until it warmed up before heading out for a run about 9:45.  15M in 1:45:45 on a nice running day down through Snake River Landing, around the greenbelt and to Freeman Park and back with an additional 1.75M through the neighborhood.  Ran into my old friend Nephi Gold at about 5M mark and ran 4 miles with him catching up (he is doing ultra trail runs now...Logan Peak, Jupiter Steeplechase and lives in Ogden since Nov. 08).  Then ran the rest of the way home trying to pick it up for a few miles then I just plain ran out of fuel and coasted in the last 2M.  Overall a decent end to the week that started off being sickly. 

An easy 7M in 50:33 on a windy but warmer morning.  Legs a little heavy, so I didn't try to push too hard and just let the run flow for what I could get.  I will try to get a decent week of mileage in (~65-70M) to make up for last week and to start the taper for Indy on Oct. 17.  I hope to make it with another buisness trip this week.

Stayed up late last night watching the Univ. of Idaho vs. Colorado St. football game on TV.  The Vandals won by 2 points to go to 4-1 on the season (more wins this year than the last 2 years combined!).  Big plays on defense sealed the game when they stopped a 2 point conversion then picked off a pass with 1 minute to go!  Way to go Vandals!

I woke up this morning to 32 degrees and snow outside, so I decided to do my first TM workout of the fall at the gym, plus I wanted to get some faster stuff in to check my turnover rate.  1M warmup at 7:00 pace, then I hit then next 5M at 5:48ish pace, then about 1M at 6:30ish pace with the last mile back at 6:00 pace.  In the middle miles, I pushed the pace to sub 5:30 for a while and did 5:00 for 1/4 mile.  Overall a good morning run with an overall average of 6:10.  Good start to the week.  (Stratos)

5.1M outside at lunch on a cold (36 degrees) snowy and windy day.  Forgot my running pants, so I ran in shorts, long sleeves, gloves, jacket and headband and stayed mostly warm enough.  Total time of 33:53.  Just an icky day and I am  not ready for winter to hit yet (there are still green leaves on some of the trees!).  (Ride)

7.1M on the TM at the gym as it was cold and foggy this morning and I didn't feel like dressing up for it.  2.6M easy to start at 6:40ish pace, then 4.5M at a slow MP (6:20) for a total time of 46 minutes.  Felt a little fatigued but overall legs ok. (Stratos) 

On tap for a massage this evening to work out kinks in the legs as I get into the taper for Indy. 

5M at lunch on a cold (36 degrees) and windy day.  Started off with intestinal issues that plagued me during the run as well.  Ran with Pat B. for about 3M until I had to take a pit stop.  Overall time of 36:30 so pretty easy.  Need to determine what I am eating on the days when my insides feel like this?  Maybe the milk on my cereal for breakfast?  (Ride)

7M early on a cold (30 degrees) morning but no wind or precipitation.  Really slow and easy this morning for a good recovery easy day. (Stratos)

Legs a bit sore from the massage last night.  My right leg was actually tighter than my left which surprised me.  My hammy's and calves weren't bad, but my ITB was tight, especially on the right leg.  She did a pretty aggressive deep tissue massage so I was a bit painful at times but I think it will help.  Focus a lot on stretching for the next week and a half to get things loose.

Off on a business trip again...1 day of travel, 1 day of meetings, 1 day of travel back!  Between business and personal travel, I will have been on the road for almost a month and been from coast to coast and nearly 15,000 miles!

7.1M early on a warm (55 degrees) and fairly calm morning.  Ran from the hotel to the center of town then back to the high school to do some laps on the track.  Started the intervals about 3.5M into the run.  400m, 800m, 400m at an embarassingly slow pace (MP).  Too early to get much speed out of the legs.  Now a full day of meetings. 

Great day of meetings then the drive to the hotel by the airport on a wonderful afternoon.  We have about 1.5 hours until dinner, so I decide I have to run in weather like this (sunny, 72 degrees, no wind).  I run 6.1M on the BWI trail at an average 6:23 pace (slow MP effort).  A couple of miles at near 6:30 pace and a couple of others at 6:00 or slightly better but even effort on the rolling hills on the trail.  A great run! 

Now back home tomorrow!

No run this morning due to very early flight, but back home by around noon!

11M early (6am) on a cold (25 degrees) and windy morning.  Met up with Lynette, Andrea and Kari for the run.  Ran easy for about 4M then 1M at slow MP, then a few more with the ladies before another faster mile.  At 9M mark, broke up a bit then did 1M at slow MP with Lynette to push her a bit.  Final total time of 1:19:30 for a 7:14ish overall pace.  Everything felt good and strong, last longer run before next weekend's marathon. 

Now for a day of playing with the kids and getting the house and camp trailer ready for winter!

5M at a 7:00 pace in cooler (33 degrees) but no wind on a cloudy morning.  Start of the big taper week, only about 25 miles prior to race on Saturday. 

Slept in and went for a run after taking the kids to school (day off for Columbus Day!) in overcast, cool (33 degrees) but windless weather.  Took a lesson from Ed Eyestone in the most recent edition of Runner's World.  I am doing a high intensity taper this week and did some good speedwork today at the track.  2.25M warmup, then 800m, 1200m, 2x200m, 400m then slow MP cooldown.  Splits were as follows:  800 - 2:38 (5:15), 1200 - 4:08 (5:29, slow), 200 - :39 (4:52), 200 - :36 (4:40), 400 - 1:15 (4:56).  Overall a good run with average final pace of 6:32.  Good start to the week.

6M early on a warm morning (45 degrees) and no wind.  Started easy then picked up the pace as the run progressed to finish in 41:49.  Lower back/piriformis a bit stiff, but otherwise felt good.  (Kinda have a tickle in my throat but I think it is the last remnants of the cold I had).  Only run for the day....taper, taper, taper. 

No run today, long travel day.

5M on the cool, wet and dark morning. Overdressed a bit expecting the cold and rain to be worse, so the light jacket and running cap was actually hot.  Plus, there are no sidewalks here and the roads are very narrow so I was dodging cars for the entire run.  Nice and easy in 36 minutes.  Feeling good.  Day with the family today. 

3.1M early on a cool and breezy morning.  Just nice and easy with some slow MP segments.  Feeling mostly good, had a bit of a side cramp right at the end. 

Off to the Children's Museum this morning with the family then to the Expo and package pickup.  Meeting up with JimF at the expo and probably doing a course tour with Jim today. 

Getting antsy....weather looking pretty cool, still trying to finalize clothes for the race tomorrow.

Not my day today...2:43:12 (way off of goals).  That said, I was able to finish 5th OA and 1st Master (the 4 ahead of me were all in their 20's).  Awards went 5 deep OA so I nabbed a plaque and a gift certficate instead of an age group award.   

Ran first 15 miles with Greaham Niemer and Chris Colgan (Greaham ended up 2nd, Chris faded at 20 miles).  We went out pretty easy hitting all the early miles between 5:45 - 6:10 (depening on the hills) and thought we were doing ok.  But I knew it was going to be slow day when we hit the half in 1:19 and change.  Then at 15M I really started to feel my IT band starting to get tight and at 18M it was getting bad and I really slowed.  At 25M the wheels really started to fall off...I was running 3rd OA, then got passed like I was standing still and then a young college age kid name Tom started charging on me just before 26M then nabbed 4th with 10 meters to go as I pushed with all I had...that sucked! 

The day started off cold but ended up being about perfect running conditions (though it never got much above 40 degrees until the last 5 miles).   May have overdressed a bit but was comfortable for most of the race.  This was probably the most convoluted course I have ever run, lots of turns and twists, doubling back on itself and running against the crowds of runners coming the other direction.  It was pretty running through the park with all the fall colors but it was too full of turns (way worse that the second half of Utah Valley).

Overall pretty disappointed with the performance against what I went into the race expecting to do.  So, I think that this race performance was just result of accummulation of mileage and races over the year....now time to relax and scale back for a while.  This was my fifth marathon this year so I am sure that the "trials of miles and miles of trials" attributed to this result, but I feel that I had a good racing year on whole.

Splits: 5:47, 6:08, 6:10, 5:56, 5:55, 5:59, 5:57, 5:52, 5:54, 6:05, 6:24, 6:09, 5:54, 5:58, 6:15, 6:08, 6:10, 6:21, 6:18, 6:19, 6:26, 6:30, 6:33, 6:35, 6:32, 6:50, 2:07 (.2 or I had it a 0.35M). 

No run today...recovery day.  Feel better than anticipated after how the legs felt at the end of the race yesterday. 

Family day with all the relatives then swimming in the pool with the kids and a late night movie with my brother, his wife and Kami.

Slept in and didn't get up until 7:30 (everyone else is still asleep too!).  Nice and easy 4M in 32:30 on a cool but nice morning.  It felt good to stretch the legs a bit. 

More family stuff today.

5M easy and early on a nice (a bit cool, but much better than earlier on the vacation) morning.  Nothing special, just a recovery run before heading up to Indy with the family as we prepare to head home.

Flew home this morning...yeah, good to be home!  Went out for an early afternoon run in great weather.  6M down Sunnyside...I hurt more today than earlier in the week! 

5M early and very easy on a nice morning.  I am still sore, everything hurt this morning so I didn't push the pace or the distance.  Only run for the day due to recovery and work schedule.

Slept in this morning since it is my day off and went running after walking the kids to school.  I ran to work to finish up an action then ran home for a total of 11.1M at and average 6:53 pace (1:16:32).  Run was good and I finally feel like I am recovered. 

10.15M early on a warmer but very windy morning.  I thought I was meeting up with the gang, but no one showed up so I did a solo run in 1:17 and change.  Nice and easy pace, left achilles was a bit twingy but not enough to cause much concern.

Off to help my son with his scouting for food project then the family will visit the pumpkin patch today to get some pumpkins for jack o'laterns.  Did some yardwork too in the nicer than anticipated weather.

6M early and easy on a cold morning (25 degrees) before church.  Achilles a bit twingy at the start, but felt better as the run progressed.  Energy level increased as the run went on as well and finished faster than I started. 

A day of pumpkin carving is on tap with the family today!

7.5M slow and easy early on a decent morning to run (38 degrees, no wind).  Left achilles feeling better, foot twingy a little bit.  (Stratos)

Don't want to go to work today, had too much fun with the family over the weekend.

6.25M on the TM at the gym this morning as I didn't feel like braving the cold wind and rain.  6:30 average pace with the last mile sub 6:00 pace.  Legs felt good.  Only run today due to long day at work scheduled. 

6M early on a cold windy morning.  Nothing special, just a dark cold slow run.  Another busy day at work so this will be the only run again. 

Too cold outside when I got up (15 degrees) so I headed to the gym for a faster run on the TM.  7.5M in 47 minutes for an average 6:16 pace.  Started easy then worked my way up to a max 5:24 pace per quarter.  Overall felt good.  Long days at work ended yesterday, but they were good days!  (Stratos)

5.35M around the greenbelt at lunch on a sunny but kinda chilly day.  Nice and easy (7:00 pace avg), feeling a twing in my achilles again and think it is telling me its time to retire the Progride Ride and Stratos 3 shoes.  (Ride 1)

6.5M outside in the slightly wind and cool morning air (35 degrees, warmer than I expected).  Ran early on sloshing path as it snowed overnight but was in slush mode on the pavement.  Left achilles acting up a bit so with all of that this was a VERY slow paced run.  I will see if I want to run again at lunch.  (Trigon 2)

Donuts with Dad day at school this morning with the kids!!

4.5M at lunch on a cool, dreary misty day around the greenbelt.  Achilles still a bit twing, so this was just a very easy run in 33:30.  May take tomorrow off to just rest and be with the family.  (Ride)

I was looking and determined that so far this year I have now run the equivalent distance of driving from Boston to San Diego to LA or from Seattle to Orlando.  Can I stop now if I have run from coast to coast?

6M on the TM at home after Kami went to work and the kids were still asleep.  Watched "Hancock", but 6M was all that I could muster today...no motivation, need the break I think from higher volume training for at least a little while.

Time with family today and a Halloween party tonight with friends.