I'm retired from racing. Really.

AM- I planned on running 8 miles, but my hip started hurting for the first time in a month.  Grr.  4.5 miles running, 3 biking.

AM- 6 xt

PM- Ran up Dry Canyon again, further this time.  44 min up, which was far enough to get past almost all the tracks.  Once it was a slow slog through mid-shin deep soft snow, I turned around.  Fell a number of times on the way down when my leg would unexpectedly sink up to my knee in snow... which actually results in a kind of fun soft-snow landing.  20 min down, then did 4 miles on Deer Fence.  92 minutes, so we'll call it 12 miles (even though it wasn't really that far).  Roughly 2500-2700 ft climbing on the run.  My NB800 work perfectly in these snow conditions.

PM- 7

PM- 9.5

PM- I ran Dry Canyon for the third time in 7 days, this time while enjoying Cody's company.  The new snow definitely made it slower than earlier this week, with more falling on the way down.  Still very enjoyable.  I think Cody's garmin said we officially went 6.25 miles (48 min up, 23 min down- one of the slower 5k's of my life on the way up)- but when you add on the 2000ft elevation gain plus the snow, it was 9 miles equivalent :)  I may have to stop tracking mileage and just do time.  It was nice to run with someone- first time in a month.

PM- I was gone all morning, so missed running with anyone.  I laid down for a short nap when Marci went running at 1:30... and woke up at 5 pm!  Wow, I was tired.  Seeing as today is our anniversary and we were dropping the kids off at 6 pm, my planned 16 miles was out the window.  So I ran PW4, and will maybe pull a Davy and do a longer run Monday morning.

PM- Started my run intending to go 15-16 miles.  Instead, I discovered that my hips are still ultra-sensitive to running on hard surfaces.  My left hip started hurting by mile 4, caused me to turn around early, and left me slowly limping home.  I'm very, very, very frustrated right now.  It's been 10 weeks and I can't run more than 5 miles without pain, other than on dirt.  I'm afraid this  is going to vex me all season, with my primary hope that the melting snow will allow me to do most my running on trails.  11 frustrating miles. 

AM- 4 xt.

PM- 8 xt.

AM- 4 miles running (no pain!), 2 xt.

PM- I wanted to get as many miles as I could handle today, which meant running on trails rather than road.  I slept in a bit and didn't get out until 3:30 pm, when it was 30 deg, snowing, and 20+ mph wind.  Brr.  I drove to the Green Canyon fishing hole and hoped the canyon would be runnable and provide shelter from the storm.  Both proved true.  The road was great- fairly firm packed, with 2-4 inches of new snow on top to add a bit of a challenge (plus more coming down the whole time).  I ran all the way to the Yurt at about 10 min miles, passing 13 ladies skiing to the Yurt.  On the way down, I discovered that they had only gone 1 mile in the time I ran 5- they weren't too fast.  I felt great except for my left groin, which has been bugging me when I run uphills.  I ran down at about 7 min pace.  Finished the 9 miles of lap 1 in 1:16- not bad for a snowy trail run.  Very enjoyable- soft snow, runnable trail, good weather, lots of solitude.

I refilled my water at the car, took a Chocolate Mint Gu (very yummy), and debated whether to spare my groin by finding some flatter stuff, or venturing up Green again.  Of course, the allure of the trail and snow won out, and I ventured up again after driving to the normal parking lot.  Pace was ~10 min miles, and I kept hoping I would pass the skiers again.  I needed to turn around to get home, but decided to go ahead and run all the way to the Yurt for the second time.  I indeed caught all but 2 of the skiers before the Yurt, with most of them making some comment or another about me passing them twice.  Unfortunately, I started to fall apart on the run down, averaging 8-9 min miles as my groin was absolutely killing me, my hips started hurting, and I just ran out of juice.  I was very glad to finish just before dark.  Finished the 7.5 miles of lap 2 in 1:10. 

Total was 16.5 miles of snow running (no mileage padding today, Scott), in 2:26:03 with 2600 ft climbing.  My longest run time-wise by almost an hour since RR.  I felt good (other than my groin) until the last few miles.  I'm sure my hips and groin will complain tomorrow, though, but I'm glad to see I can do 2 hour trail runs.  I'm going to drop down to the 25k Buffalo Run, though- 50k would kill me.  Sorry, Cody- guess our series will be 1 race fewer.

I posted some photos of a recent run up Dry Canyon on my other blog.  It sure looks different now than in the summer.  Plus it contains a few photos of RR100, since I realized I didn't post any.

PM- I wanted to run as far as I could without pain.  Umm, yup, only made it 2 miles.  And my hips hurt!  Added 4 miles on the bike.  This is lame.

PM- 4 plus 6.

PM- 2 miles elliptical, then 8 miles running, somewhat low pain.  I'm just trying to run as much as I can each day without making anything worse.

AM- I only had time for 5.5 miles this morning before work.

PM- 8 running, 2 elliptical.

I was sitting on the floor today, and my big toenail got stuck in the carpet.  When I stood up, it ripped off.  Didn't hurt, cause it was black from RR100 and already dead.  Now I have 2.5 toenails on my right foot, plus 1 black toenail.  I've lost lots of toenails in my day, but never a big one like this.  Looks funky (only click on link if you're brave). 

AM- Trail run with Cody.  We ran on the Logan River trail from Stokes to just past Spring Hollow, then back to the car.  Then we ran up again- I ran to the singletrack, where I stopped for a potty break, then ran to the car, while Cody continued onwards for a bit more.  I added a mile on the road.  I decided to not run the full 15 to spare my hips/abs a few days recovery.  20 deg, a bit chilly and windy- our water bottles froze.  The trail was generally snowpacked and a bit icy, but runnable.  Good run, and my first one with Cody in a while.  13 miles in 1:50 (8:30 avg).

PM- Marci had her 10 mile long run today and wanted some company at the end, so I pushed the girls in the stroller for 3.5 miles with her.  Much warmer than this morning.

PM- 10 miles, all of it running.  I'm hoping to finally be able to phase out any cross training, and that my hips will let me run as much as I want.  Still being cautious, though.

AM- 5.5

PM- 3 with Marci and the girls, then 5 by myself, all around south Logan.  I ran Planet Walk for the first time in a while, even adding on the Paul Petersen Memorial Weed Wacker loop at the end. 

AM- 6.

PM- 9.5.  Sluggish. 

AM- 6.

Today was the Antelope Island Buffalo Run 25k.  I was originally signed up for the 50k but changed to the 25k due to my injuries.  Since RR100 in Feb, here are my weekly running and cross-training miles.

Week	Cross train miles	Run miles	Total miles
Feb 13	0	0	0
Feb 20	20	0	20
Feb 27	25	23	48
Mar 6	20.5	34.5	55
Mar 13	14	31.5	45.5
Mar 20	14	44	58
Mar 27	0	65	65

Conclusion: This week is my first week with no crosstraining miles, and my first week with more than 50 miles running since Christmas (excluding RR100 race day).  Not counting this week or RR, I ran 200 total miles this year-blah.  In other words, I'm slowly getting back into shape but have a long, long ways to go.  

With that understanding, I had low expectations going into this race.  I was hoping for 2:10-2:15 for the 25k, but had never been to the island before so didn't know how hilly it would really be.  Cody started his 50k at 8 am, then I cheered on a few of the 50 milers and the lone 100 miler, Davy.  I was very worried because my hips hurt even during the warm up, and they wouldn't get better during the race.  But the pain was manageable.

Soon it was our turn to start at 10 am.  Weather was rather nice- sunny, chilly, with a breeze from the north.  Lots of runners I knew on the start line, including Brad Mitchell, Nephi Gold, and Albert Wint.  We started off at a moderate pace with a bit of chatting, and saw Cody finishing his first loop before the half-mile mark.  Brad and Albert took off at mile 1, gradually pulled away, and were never seen again.  After a steady climb for most of the first part, I hit aid station 1 in 43 min and 6th place, with Nephi, the famous Matt Hart, and Chris Lundberg ahead. 

The trail does a very enjoyable 5.5 mile loop at this point, first descending for 2 miles, then climbing with switchbacks for 2 more before some rollers.  I passed Nephi and Matt on the down, then caught Chris on the switchbacks and was in 3rd place by aid 2 (mile 11).  I was at about 1:24 and feeling better than expected.  Karl Meltzer was at the aid station and told me that I was 8 minutes behind the leaders- wow.  I charged off hard to stay ahead of the strong-looking Matt who lurked just behind.  The last 5 miles were not my favorite- lots of exposed, relatively-flat trail, where I could see up to 1 mile ahead.  Eventually the finish line appeared just over a mile away, and I had 10 minutes to break the 2 hour mark.  I pushed hard and finished in 1:58:29, 3rd place overall.  Albert edged out Brad, both 10 minutes ahead of me and in course record time (and finishing the same time as 50k Nick Clark, who also set a CR).  Matt and Nephi were just behind.

I grabbed my camera and ran up to the 1 mile mark on the trail, hoping to get a good picture of Cody finishing his 50k.  But, I had to head back for the awards before he appeared.  Unfortunately, they still had me as doing the 50k on the finishers sheet, so I didn't get a 25k award (and declined the 2nd place overall 50k award), but that's ok with me.  I ate lots of yummy buffalo stew to make up for it.  And Cody did awesome and won an age award, though I won't spoil his report.

Overall, this is a great race in a beautiful, unique location I had never been at before.  Jim really does a good job, though I was disappointed to never see any buffalo during the race, only before and afterwards.  I particularly enjoyed talking to lots of great runners after the race, many of whom I only knew by their blog before today (50m winners Ryan Burch and Scott Jaime, Matt Hart, Karl Jarvis, Brian Beckstead, Nick Clark, Erik Storheim, plus FRB-ers nfroerer, facelessghost, Jim Kern, a surprise appearance by Chad and his kids, plus cheered Twinkies and Jun into the finish- plus lots of otherss!).  Trail runners are a great bunch of nice folks.

Cody and I had to head out so I could get my kids from the babysitter, and we were still an hour late.  I'm very happy with today, though- I have a long, long ways to go before I'm in racing shape, but I already have a bit of spunk in my legs and feel like my hips are slowly getting better.  And no ab pain today.  

Now I have 9 weeks of hard training to get ready for the tough Pocatello 50 miler.  Maybe I can actually compete against Cody this time, since I wimped out of the first race of our series.

A few race photos on my blogspot page. 

PM- Run up Green Canyon to a ways past the yurt.  I ran this 2 weeks ago and it was quite enjoyable as the snow was very packed and there was no ice- I did 10 min miles up, 7 min miles down.  Today was quite a different story- the snow was very slick, sometimes icy, and I either sunk in or slid around.  I averaged 12:15 up and could only do 8:30 pace down- very slow.  I probably won't run this again for another month- it's good when it's cold, and good in the summer, but not when it's thawing.  Too slow and hard to run.  Still nice to be in the mountains.

PM- 9.  Felt good.

PM- Mini workout.  10 miles in 68 min, with 5 at tinman pace (6:10).  Fastest miles since... umm... before Christmas.  Felt really good, though.