Wheeler Farm Loops

AM - 4.4 miles, horsepark loop w/ Andrea. Had a nice trip back east, but I have to say that I am really, really happy to be back in Utah. 

PM - 3.8 miles 

These are all of the cousins on my dad's side of the family, with my grandmother (who is almost 90 years old and still going strong). I obviously didn't get the height genes! I sort of felt like the "outcast" all week while with the family to a certain extent... other than my parents, no one else really "gets" me. My sister and my cousins think that Andrea and I are the most boring people in the world, primarily because we're the only ones who don't drink (somehow that is the primary indicator of how exciting your life is in the eyes of younger people). If only they really knew... 

AM - 9 miles, Sunnyside/Wasatch. I'm just running easy and doing whatever I feel like for the next month (or longer). No structure... probably just a lot of run commuting to and from work. Time for a break. Physically I feel really good, probably because I only raced 21 miles of the marathon :-)

Its only 8:15 and I've already had to tell the Philadelphia blowup story 3 times to people at work. I'm glad I had a really nice run this morning, or else I'd probably lose my mind today! 

PM - 3 miles, Sugarhouse Park. 

AM - 7.3 miles, up to work.

PM - 7.3 miles, back home. 

AM - 7.3 miles, up to work.

PM - 7.3 miles home, but much more exciting than yesterday. As I turned from Sunnyside on to 1900E a group of 4 high school kids (with tape recorders) wanted to ask me some questions for a school project. I told them OK but they had to keep running with me. They asked me if I could define hyperbole, simile, and metaphor. I think I passed their test. Then one of them asked me which school I went to. Before I had a chance to respond, he said "Or did you already graduate from high school?" I just laughed and said yes... almost 10 years ago! At that point they all seemed pretty tired, so we said our goodbyes, and I thanked them for their inadvertent compliment.

I enjoyed reading Ross Tucker's wrapup of the barefoot running roundtable discussion at UKSEM. This presentation he made is also worth checking out. I really like how he is able to present a balanced view on this topic, and also presents the science in a way that mortals can understand. 

AM - 9.7 miles. Woke up and the power was out. No big deal - in our place items such as headlamps and ice axes are always close by. We met up with James and Allie for the regularly scheduled JAJA run. This morning's edition featured a little bit of wind! After 6.5 miles I cut off from the group and headed up to work. The wind on Sunnyside and up the hill towards HCI was crazy... I was almost standing still at times. The worst part was the dirt blowing in my eyes and mouth. Not what I wanted for breakfast. In hindsight, we should have shuttled a car up Emigration Canyon and tried to break the 10-mile world record coming back down. I think we all could have crushed it!

PM - 4.3 miles down to Sugarhouse where Andrea picked me up. 

November was my best month of the year for perfect pushups (3025, barely beating June)... now I'm incorporating the Perfect Pullup back into the routine since my groin pull is finally healed. They are a lot harder.

AM - 7.3 miles up to work. Bet you can't guess what I have planned for this afternoon.

PM - 7.3 miles home. 

Last night our power was still out when we got home, which meant 6 quarts of ice cream were in serious jeopardy. Andrea and I decided the reasonable thing to do was eat as much as we possibly could for dinner before it all melted. I packed as much into a bowl as possible, posted up on the couch, and before I finished my second bite all the power came back on! Bummer - I put the bowl back in the freezer and ended up cooking a bunch of spinach... then of course ate a quart of ice cream later in evening... everybody wins!

8am tomorrow - JRP @ 3300S... easy breezy run. About 10 miles. Everybody is welcome! 

AM - 11 miles on the Jordan River path w/ Andrea, Emily J, Rob, Allie, James, and Bryan. There was just a little dusting of snow on the path... enough to make you pay attention so you wouldn't slip. Gotta get those snow/ice legs back under me. The sun came out and it was a really pleasant morning. Nice run... good conversations always make the time fly by.

PM - 4.4 miles, ran up to Smiths on 3300S and met Andrea so we could do our grocery shopping. Nothing beats an all uphill shakeout run.