Philippians 4:13

5 easy miles in 34 minutes in the mid afternoon after another long day of church and church meetings.  I will be relieved once we get through next Sunday.

Congrats to my friend Rachel who ran a stellar 1:46 half marathon at the PF Chang RnR Arizona race today!!!

It is Martin Luther King Jr. birthday, a federal holiday so I have the day off.  I decided to sleep in today and get caught up on sleep after yesterday (I was mentally exhausted).  I slept for 9 hours...I can't remember the last time I slept that long!  

After dropping the kids off at school, Kami and I went to the gym...me to run, she to spin then weights afterwards.  We were there for 3 hours!   I wanted to use today as my last long hard run before Surf City. 

1 mile at 6:50ish pace, then started at 6:40 and every quarter mile I would bump the speed up 1 click and progressed up to 5:27 pace, then started to back it down one click until 9.75 miles with the last quarter before 10 run at 4:18 pace.  Took a small breather (2 minutes), mile 11 was at 6:22 pace then started clicking up by 1 until 5:27 pace again.  Hit the half marathon mark at 1:19:20.  At 14.75 miles, ran a hard quarter at 4:18, then backed down to 5:39 pace and backed it off 2 clicks to mile 16.  Finished off 0.5M at an easy 6:40 pace to finish 16.5 miles in 1:38:50 for an overall 5:59 average pace.  I was beat...but then we lifted weights for about 45 minutes. 

I now need a nap and lots of food!

Working on my computer this afternoon I encountered a malicious website (via a trusted site) that put a nasty piece of malware on our home computer that totally crashed our system.  Likely going to have to do full system restore.  Luckily we had recently backed up most of our data, but will lose a few things in the process.  Why can't people with the skills to do this type of thing put them to good use rather than evil?

4:30am...easy early run on the TM. 9 miles in 58:58. Nice easy run after yesterday's run.  (Tangent 1)

Approximately 9 miles to my milestone...24,901 miles by tomorrow!

I didn't feel like going out at lunch in the cold, blustery wind.  Plus I had some work conflicts. 

4:15am...run at the gym.  1 mile warmup, 8 miles at MP progression (6:18 - 5:52), 0.25M at 4:30 pace, 0.25M at 6:18 pace.  9.5 miles in 58 minutes for a good run.

Hit my milestone today after 209.5 miles to date this year.  Lifetime running mileage (at least since I started running to "run" and tracking actual runs)...24,901 miles which is enough to circle the Earth at the equator!   (~22,000 miles since 2005 when I was more focused and accurate in my mileage tracking and training). 

Pretty happy with this cool milestone that I know many others have accomplished (AdamRW got me thinking of this a year or so ago when he blogged about hitting this milestone), but it is still something to put all the hard work into perspective.  Now for a good day at work, then some drinks tonight to reflect on what running has brought to my life. 

4:15am...10 miles on the TM at the gym as it was very windy outside (but relatively warm).  3 miles easy, 7 miles MP progression from 6:22 to 5:49.  Overall a good run. 

Justin's beginning band concert tonight was amazing...for these kids having just learned and practiced their instruments since the beginning of the school year, they did awesome! 

I got to the gym a bit late this morning so I on was able to fit in 9 miles in 55 minutes.  1 mile easy, 7.5 mile MP progression, 0.5M VO2Max (4:30) to finish off the run.  (Kinvara)

5 miles at lunch in 39:36.  Ran really easy with Dan and had some good conversation on this overcast, blustery but pretty warm day.  (TSD5)

As I reflect upon what running has meant to me or brought to my life in the past 6 years, I have a lot to be thankful for which through God’s blessing I would otherwise have not been able to experience.

Strength through Faith:  I am thankful to God for giving me the strength to keep training and competing.  I know that without Him, none of this would have been possible.  I thank God for leading me to discover this skill and leading me to the running community at a time in my life when I really needed it.

Friendships:  I have made new friends from coast to coast, from the east coast (Sergio, Mark, Dorothy, Mike W, John P., Bret, etc.) to the central US (Jim F, David, etc.) to all my friend’s in Utah (too many to name) to the west coast (Janet, etc.) and so many others!  The running community is so very supportive and motivating that I could not imagine my life now without this fantastic group of people!  I think that my best friends in my life now are centered on my passion for running.

Challenges and perseverance:  When work life was tough to stomach and I was having trouble finding meaning and purpose, running provided me the opportunity to set and accomplish a goal, maintain focus on accomplishing something and overcoming the challenges and barriers that try to get in your way.   From this inward strength and perseverance, I have been able to be more focused and stronger in other aspects of my life.

Mentoring and Leadership:  From the focus that I mention above, I have been able to use the lessons of running to apply to mentoring others and leading activities and people in other areas of my life (church, work) in addition to trying to give back knowledge to other runners.  From this effort, I have been able to forge and strengthen the friendships I mentioned above. 

Travel experiences:  Through running, my family and I have been able to experience many places in the United States that we may or may not have thought of traveling to and spending time:  Boston, Minneapolis, Virginia Beach, Indianapolis, Annapolis, Orlando, Phoenix, and  all over Utah!   I hope to continue this broadening of our knowledge of our country (and perhaps the greater world in the future).

Physical well being:  My physical fitness has dramatically improved since I started running to help offset known risk factors in my family.  I had previously been fit, but not at this level and not doing it in a way that was to be sustainable (mostly from a time commitment) due to family and work time commitments (tennis was only practical at night when I was committed to family activities). 

Financial reward:  Who would have thought that a 40-something old guy who be able to gain sponsorships from large corporations to help support his running passion! 

To sum up what running has meant to me is to say that I have grown as a person in my faith, my physical well being, my friendships and support structure (to me and to others) and my ability to focus on important things and overcome challenges.    I truly believe that I am a better person for having be led to running as a passion of my spirit. 

I got to sleep in a bit this morning as my son had a swim meet today.  He swam 2 relays (50m free) and the 100m free and did great!

I went out for a run around 1:30pm in overcast, warmish (40 degrees) and  bit breezy weather.  A loop through SRL and then down Sunnyside for 10 miles in 1:10:42.  Nice easy run later in the day, but still a bit tired.