I'm retired from racing. Really.

12 miles with Cody up the canal and to the river trail.  Felt better than yesterday.  1:23:40

Adrenaline- 270

Went to the doctor today. Just hoping to get well enough to run Saturday.  Looks like I am unfortunately having another low mileage week.  Story of my life this year.

I had no idea what to expect at this race- I was real sick this week, sick enough that I took a day off work (first sick day in 2+ years) and went to the doctor (first sick visit in 3+ years). Fever off and on all week, plus painful sinus infection. No fun. I just wanted to finish the race. It was tempting to run with some of the other bloggers (Walter, Chad, and Cody are all competitive), but I let them go right from the start. Temp was ok, but there was a strong head wind the whole way.

Mile 1 was was 5:43, then miles 2-6 were all 5:56-6:05. Then I did 7 miles between 6:13-6:29, with a finishing kick of 34 sec. I got caught in no-man's land at mile 1 and thought of catching the FRB group for wind aid, but then I started having trouble breathing at mile 1.5. It was a sort of runner's asthma that normally I get after marathons, and made it difficult to take any deep breaths. I had to really concentrate on breathing the whole way. Was in 15th place at 2 miles, including behind Emily Jameson. Caught Nate Pollard at mile 3 and we traded breaking wind for 1/2 mile each for 9 miles. I'm not sure I would have finished if he hadn't been there and we didn't work together, honestly. We caught Emily at mile 10 or 11, then caught one other guy at mile 12. Nate was hurting at this point and didn't take his lead, so I tried to burn him. He caught me with ~1/4 mile to go, but then I think he ran out of gas and I started a decent kick and beat him. But I'm so glad we helped each other- very helpful.

Awesome sight at the finish- there we 6 FRB singlets standing around, and only maybe 2 other guys. Logan, Clyde, Walter, Chad, Steve, and Cody all ran great races, and there were a bunch of other bloggers not too far behind.

I was exhausted when I finished and could not have gone any faster. Can't ask more than that. Bad time compared to normal, but it is a heck of a lot better than a DNS or DNF.

It is unfortunate that I got sick, but not much to do about that. Chad beat me by 5 minutes, Cody by 3.5, so my lead in the series is gone. There is no way I can make up 4+ minutes on Chad in the 30k. I'll do my best to get better before then, and then hopefully secure 3rd place and maybe give Cody a run for second. Should be fun.  I'm also looking forward to finally closing on my house this week (knock on wood) and getting rid of that major stress from the last month of my life.

Tangent- 165

7.5 miles with jtshad in Idaho Falls on a cool, blustery day.  Enjoyable run.  Added on a few more by myself afterwards.  Not sore at all from Saturday, but that was expected since my limiting factor was my overall health/fitness Saturday rather than muscular limitations.  ~6:45 avg pace.

Boeing 747- 131

No run. Finally closed on our house (2 weeks late, more than 1 week homeless) and spent the whole day moving in and starting to unpack, finally going to bed at midnite. Fever came back again, just like it did yesterday afternoon (nix-ing my evening run). This is getting old.

In some good news, between my recent stress and being sick, I have dropped 4-5 pounds. Almost at racing weight even though I am not running that much.

Sick and tired of being sick and tired.  Today was the worst I have felt since last Wed/Thur.  Fever all day, very weak.  Watching my hard work slip away day-by-day as I am unable to run.  Hopefully I'll be up for a small run tomorrow.  I think the half-marathon on Saturday set me back and made me sicker than I thought it would. 

Ran 8 miles with Cody.  Only my third run in 11 days.  I hope I am finally on the upside of my sickness- I didn't feel good all week.  It was definitely my first run in a while, as my legs were tired and sluggish.  1:01:23, 7:40 avg.

F-15 Eagle- 139

11 very, very slow but surprisingly difficult miles with Cody, 3 kids, and 2 jogging strollers.  Windy.  I am very, very, very tired.  Hoped to get 14 but didn't have more than 11 in me today.  This may be a very gradual comeback after almost 4 sick weeks and essentially 2 weeks off.  But I am trying to just get mileage more than I am worried about speed.

Adrenaline- 281

No run today. Last night's run exhausted me (I went to bed at 8:30), and I am still feeling it.  I am starting to suspect I might have something worse than just a cold/sinus infection.  I feel like I did when I had mono in college- I feel ok for a day or two, but then go for a run and it totally wipes me out for a few days.  If I don't feel much, much better by this weekend, I may go get a blood test.  Something is definitely not right and I don't like it.

5 easy miles with Cody and Paul.  Felt a lot better than Monday- hopefully I won't feel like crap tonight and will be able to run tomorrow.  8 min pace till the last mile when I had to pick it up to get home in time to watch the kid.

Elite- 437

Cody and Logan were running Hollow Rd/Blacksmith Fork canyon.  I met them at about mile 12 of TOU, 5 miles into their run.  We ran to mile 7, then turned around and ran back.  Almost perfect temperature, and I started just far enough up the canyon to miss the strong headwind.  1:12 for 10 miles- I thought it was short of 10, but mapmyrun put it at 10.15.  Felt much, much better than Monday, though I could tell by the end that I was fatigued.  It was probably good I didn't try to do much more than 10 today.  I think I should be ready to ease back into 6 runs next week with moderate mileage.

767- 149

First 4:30 am run of the year.  Winter is still here- 20 deg.

pm- ran 5 miles with Cody, then just over 5 more by myself.  I'm guessing 7:27 pace with Cody, then a hair slower by myself.  I just looked at his blog and it said 7:23 pace, so we were moving a bit faster than I thought.

It sure is a lot easier to get 15 miles in 2 runs rather than 1, even with the 4 am wake up call.

Elite- 442

Adrenaline- 291

Mini-workout with Cody on Young Ward loop.  3 mile warmup, then did a short tempo run.  I was hoping for 3 miles around 6:30 pace.  First mile was with Cody in 6:30.  Second mile he picked up the pace and I kind of lost concentration- 6:45.  Picked it back up for the 3rd mile- 6:30.  Ran home from Cody's house after the run.  11 miles, 1:18:45, 7:10 avg.

767- 160

6 miles at 4:20 am.  Started off real slow (.5 mile in 4:20) and tried to pick it up from there.  Pushed the pace pretty hard- well, as hard as you can make sluggish legs run in the morning.  I only had 45 minutes so was afraid that I only ran ~5.5 miles, but mapmyrun actually put me at 6.05, so I was a hair under 7:30 avg.  45:01 total.

2 good running-related notes:  I have been doing a good job of getting to bed hours earlier than I ever have in the past most nights.  I was asleep at 9:30 last night and 10 pm Mon night.  I even have a few 9 pm bedtimes, which is far better than the 11-11:30 I have lived for the past 5+ years.  I also found that being sick resulted in some weight loss- down to 139 lbs this morning, the lowest since right after my mission.  My normal weight since then has been 155 or so, with a low of 145 and a high of 170.

Adrenaline- 297

9 easy miles. It snowed off and on all day, and it was hailing with thunder and lightning when I got home from work.  Huh.

Elite- 451 

6 easy miles.  I'm excited for the 30k tomorrow- strange distance.  Should be a good race.

767- 166

Day of the last Striders series race.  I went in not really knowing what to expect- I am 95% recovered from my sickness, but I first got sick Mar 18 and essentially missed 3 weeks of good training.  I was in 3rd place in the series, 29 seconds ahead of Ben.  My only goal was to hold onto 3rd place.  I planned to take it out slow at 6:30 pace and then see what happened after mile 9.  3 miles warmup.

Pretty good weather- probably 30 deg, slight breeze the whole way.  Sunny- shorts, singlet, gloves and hat.  Found out at the start that Tim Wight would not run because he has a stress fracture in his pelvis- ouch!  Get well soon, buddy.

Mile 1 was with Ben, Nate Pollard, Cody, and Chad- 6:54 (mile was a bit long), then Cody and Chad pulled away and I ran with the other 2.  Mile 2 was 6:16, then 4 miles between 6:29-6:34.  Then we did 3 miles of 6:50-6:56 pace up a gradual incline with a slight headwind.  First 9 miles were very easy for me (I could have done ~30 seconds faster per mile), but I was just fine with that.  After the top, we picked it up a bit- 6:26 for mile 10, then 6:10 and 6:06.  When we hit mile 12, Ben (who did SLC marathon last week) and Nate decided to slow down to 7:00 pace while I kept going with a 6:08 and a 6:03.  At mile 15 I was starting to feel my 6:10 pace and hit some gradual uphills which continue through the end of the course- Cody says they at 20 seconds slower than the previous miles.  I did a 6:18, 6:23, 6:24, then 6:26.  Felt pretty tired but actually maintaining a decent pace.  I got passed by Jeff M at mile 18- tried to hold him off but he had a good head of steam.  Last 0.6 in 4:02.  4th place overall, 3rd in the series.  I met my goal.  Sub-2:00 would have been nice, but the first 9 miles were too slow for that.  Very slow 1.5 miles cool down.

Chad easily won, 1:53, and Cody took second, 1:55.  They had decided whoever won would take the other and myself to breakfast, so Chad took us to a good little restaurant.  Thanks, Chad.  Top 3 FRB sweep in the men's overall for the series- Chad, Cody, and myself.  Sasha and Steve should be happy.  We even got some comments on how nice our matching shirts looked.  Big congrats to Chad and Cody and all the other series runners.

I was happy with today- I got 3rd in the series and got a good training run for the marathon.  Based on today, I'm not really going to taper for Ogden marathon and will aim for a 2:50 time- not going to push it, just use it as training for the rest of the year- start slow, see what I have left at mile 18.  Feel good, with a slight pain in my right knee that I will monitor.

Adrenaline- 299

Tangent- 187

My knee was rather painful all day yesterday, so I iced it during the day yesterday and today.  It was much better today, I could only feel anything when I went up or down stairs.  I did feel it my whole run- not really a pain, but more a sensation and soreness below and behind my kneecap.  Anyways, my run was a rather slow 12 miles or so at 8:00 pace with the jogging stroller.  Slight wind the whole way home, which left me pretty tired by the end.  Long run pushing the kid.  Planet walk, then 400 W up to 1400 N, then worked my way home.  Planning on 77 miles this week, most since Aug last year.

767- 178

AM- 6 miles around town.  I saw a very big, slow, bright, and very green shooting star this morning.  I have seen lots of shooting stars, but never a bright green one.  Kind of pretty.  44:05, 6 miles.

PM- About 4 miles with Cody and his kids, then 5 miles with Paul on the LHS grass, then just under 2 miles home.  Unknown pace, but knee still hurt a bit and legs were still sluggish.

Adrenaline- 310

Elite- 457

AM- 6 miles on the grass at the golf course.  Hoping running on grass helps my knee stop hurting.  Nice morning run temp- ~43 deg.  Easy day today, so no PM run.

Elite- 463