Philippians 4:13

Wow, my calves are hammered!  At least my hips and ankle feel better this morning.  Long drive home today so hopefully I can survive the ride.

Spent a couple of hours visiting with the Murphy's in SLC, great time chatting, letting the kid's play and burn off some energy and talking about the R2R2R in 3 weeks.  Had some good conversation about the race yesterday as well.

I have come to the conclusion that my racing results this year have been a bit lackluster as I have focused of the balance of my life roles as opposed to pouring excess energy and thought into running.  Kids, family, work and church have taken a lot of my focus and time and my training (at least "quality time" and speedwork) just have not been there.  I have put in a heavy amount of miles and my endurance is good and I have enjoyed running for fun and stress relief.  I have not really missed the "stress" of big workouts except for at races where my mind is thinking I can do things that my body and training just are not ready for.  But, the rest of my life has been good and I have been blessed with so many good things that a few "bad" races just doesn't matter in the big picture.

I think I have also come to realize the appeal of trails and ultras that Jon found in the approach to training differently and will see how the translates to a real trail run later this month with Rob, Steve (and maybe my friend Gray who is think of joining us!) in the Grand Canyon.

3 easy early miles with Moxie, mostly to get her out.  Calves are still trashed so this was slow. (TSD5)

4.25 miles at lunch on a beautiful day.  I had to get out and do an easy run in this weather with the forecast that is upcoming.  Forgot to take my racing shoes out of my bag so ran in my Tangent 3. 

3 easy miles with Moxie in a rain.  Calves still tight, almost didn't go out but Moxie needed the run.  Only run today due to work and need for recovery time.

5 miles early and easy with Curt and Moxie.  Curt is in full on taper and I in recovery so this was slow.  Wore the new Xodus trail shoes to try them out...pretty nice but jury is still out for another run or two.

No early morning run.  Woke up to rain, wind and 38 degrees...decided to rest and get an extra hour of rest/sleep for this recovery period.  I will try to get out at lunch time in warmer (but I am sure still wet) weather. 

UPDATE:  No lunch run, it is snowing and 33 degrees with a stiff breeze and and I have is shorts, long sleeve shirt and light jacket.  Today may end up just being a day off unless I decide to head to the gym after work (or hit the TM at home for a few miles).

Got up to another blizzard outside...yuck!  Drove to the gym only to find a power outage and the whole section of town in the dark, so I turn around and head home for a run on the TM in the basement.  6 miles in 41:15...hot and no air flow down there, I am not ready for TM weather.  

Day off with the family (4 day weekend in fact!) in horrible weather.  I hope it does indeed improve over the weekend and next week so I can winterize around home (camper, a/c, sprinklers, deck furniture) and we can harvest some more apples and plums (assuming they survive these past 2 days!).

5:30am...10 miles in 1:18:01 on a windless and warmer morning than expected (40 degrees).  Ran with Craig and Lynette through SRL to John's Hole bridge and back home.  Pushe mile 9 pretty hard and my calves and right foot felt it. 

Now for a day with the family and doing some work around the house. The kids and I went to the gym and did enough laps in the pool that we swam for 1/2 a mile!