I'm retired from racing. Really.

AM- 4.5 elliptical miles.  After 5 days off, hips are still disappointingly sore.  Will schedule doctor's appt today.  I'm fearing my chances of running Rocky Raccoon are diminishing with each week I don't run but don't seem to get better.

Doctor report- he said to keep my ticket to Texas.  Doesn't look like any injury to the actual hip joint, and not bursitis.  Looks like general overuse at the muscle/ligament insertion points, made worse by very weak hip abductor/adductor muscles.  NSAID's plus physical therapy, and lots of cross training (bike, elliptical, maybe some underwater treadmill at USU facility) should have me ok to run my race next month.  Encouraging news, though still lots of work and luck needed to be able to run the race.  But generally about as positive of news as I could have expected.

PM- 5 cross training miles.  Hip hurt more on the bike than the elliptical.  I'm spending 90 minutes per day doing hip exercises (45 min twice a day), which really cuts into any time to cross train.

PM- 10 good cross training miles.  

PM- 13 miles on the bike and elliptical.  No hip pain, but my bum sure is sore from all the time in the saddle that it's not used to.

PM- workout while watching the Jets-Bengals playoff game.  I think I did about the equivalent of 9 miles elliptical, 10 miles biking, and I did 1 treadmill mile just for kicks and giggles.  If you gotta work out inside, watching NFL playoffs is about the best way to do it.

Reason number 429 I don't gamble:  I wrote down who I thought would win all 4 NFL games this weekend.  I was wrong on all 4.  Very happy Baltimore won, indifferent about Dallas and the Jets, really bummed about Green Bay.  Sorry, Paul.

AM- hip workout, then 5 tough miles on the bike. Really pushed it, huffing and puffing as much as any speed workout.

PM- 1 more at the physical therapist.  He said we're seeing improvement.  He's having me start running every other day, with 2-3 miles tomorrow. 

AM- 8 miles, including 3 running.  No pain, but sore hips from the therapy yesterday.  Of course, it was Bagel Tuesday at PF, so that helped...

PM- 8 crosstraining miles. 

PM- 10 cross training.

AM- 5 miles running (in my brand new Pearl Izumi Pace shoes that I plan to use for my 100), then 1 mile xt.  Hip was nagging, but not painful.

PM- 10.5 miles xt. 

AM- Only had time for 4 miles once I finished my hip stuff this morning.  I was dragging this morning as I haven't been getting to bed early enough all week.

PM- 1 at the physical therapist, then 6 more at PF. 

AM- 8 running miles with Paul and Cody.  I think it's my first time running with them since before Christmas.  Cold (15 deg F) and very foggy/smoggy out, but I didn't notice much.  Hips felt generally good, though the left side started nagging a bit the last few miles.  3.5 weeks since my injury, 3 weeks till my race- hopefully I can continue to recover.

PM- 13 cross training miles while watching the second half of the Cardinals-Saints game.  Hopefully the next 3 games will be better than this one was. 

AM- 8.5 miles (all running) at 7 min pace.  Negligible hip issues.  Plan to run 4 times this week, plus lots of cross training.

PM- 10 cross train. 

PM- 10 cross training.

AM- 9.5 miles running at sub-7:10 pace, including a 1/2 mile hill.  Bit of hip pain.  But it's nice to be running again.

PM- 10 cross training.  I miss running.

Scrubbed today's run due to returning hip pain.  Frustrating.

PM- my goal this week is to run at least 3 miles every day, to make sure my legs are used to running a bit.  3 running, 8 biking.  I think I sweat more when biking than running.

PM- 4 running miles, 1 very fast walking mile (practice for RR), then 3 cross train.  I can't believe my race is almost here- I've quite literally been planning on this race for 18+ months, and I'm already nervous.  

AM- 4, all running.

Some of my regular readers (do I have any regulars?) may have noticed I'm not commenting on my blog or any other FRB-ers as often.  I'm restricting myself to getting on the FRB only once per day in the evening, and don't have as much time to look at everyone's blogs.  I'll try to read everyone's at least once a week.  This should make everyone happy to not have to read my dumb and silly comments on a daily basis!  Although my company is laying off 500 people tomorrow... so I may have much more free time for the FRB soon.

PM- Made it through the layoffs, fortunately- stressful day.  Matt made it, too.  Thanks for your thoughts, everyone.  Ran 5 miles in the evening in my new shoes (my second pair of XT wings, though this one is 1/2 size larger in case my feet swell during 100's), then 4 miles crosstraining.

PM- 2.5 run, 3 xt.

It's days like today that actually make me enjoy my commute.  I have been able to leave behind the smog and constant fog of Logan to enjoy blue skies and sun at work. 

AM- I'm getting frustrated that my hips aren't getting better.  I ran 1 MP mile today, then one normal mile, plus 8 miles cross training.  

Cody pointed out that Karl Meltzer did his race favorites for Rocky Raccoon 100 next week- looks like I'm on it.  I don't think I'll be able to live up to it with my hip, though.  I expect my first 100 will truly be an exercise in enduring pain. 

I'll do a few more cross train miles next week but no running to try to give my hips one last rest. 

AM- 5.5 miles cross train, just to keep the legs moving a bit.  I'm definitely trying to err on the side of "healthy and less fit" for this race- hopefully my hips hold up.  Flying out Fri morning with Cody, Paul, and Davy for the race- I've been looking forward to this race for 18 months.  I wasn't planning on having a hip injury and not being able to run for 6 weeks before, but that's life.  Looks like there will be more than 350 runners in the 100, plus 300 more in the 50.  Huge!  Should be fun.  Next post will by my race report.

Rocky Raccoon 100.  Sorry on making everyone wait so long for this report.

I first planned on this race about 18 months ago.  I am going to run the Bear 100 this year, and decided starting with an "easier" 100 would be wise.  Paul and Cody volunteered to crew/pace me, so we made reservations last August.  I did 2 50-milers in preparation and my training was going great… right up until I injured my hips just before Christmas. As a result, in the last 6 weeks before the race, I averaged around 10 miles running per week, but did a ton of cross training and hip exercises.  Even one week before the race, I couldn't run more than a few miles due to hip pain, but was still going to race.  Davy decided to join us last minute, and we enjoyed his company. 

The course is 5, 20-mile loops around Lake Raven in the gorgeous, pine-forested Huntsville State Park in Texas, with 5 aid stations per loop.  It is 100% dirt, mostly singletrack, and "relatively" flat, though small rolling hills are everywhere.  It isn't rocky, but there are innumerable tree roots that present the main tripping hazard.  There was lots of rain the week of the race which resulted in a few muddy spots, but nothing that really slowed me down.  If anything, it added a little excitement and enjoyment.  Race day weather was absolutely perfect, with a high of 60 deg and low of 40 deg.  Sunny, minimal wind.  Perfect, especially compared to Cache Valley winter. 

My primary goal was simply to finish the race and to learn as much about 100 mile races as possible.  Goal 2 was to break 20 hours.  Prior to the injury, I had aspirations of 17-18 hours, but that seemed doubtful given my injury and lack of recent training.  Being a nerd, I made split projections for each aid station, with a "fast" pace, a "medium" pace, and an "oh-crap-slow" pace.  Above all, I knew I wanted to start slow-- there was no such thing as too slow of a start.  I was hoping for a 3:00-3:15 first lap, then slowing down about 15 min each lap thereafter.  I ended up very close to the “oh-crap-slow” pace for the first 3 laps.  I surprisingly slept rather well the night before, and was more excited than nervous.  At the start, I met a few famous ultrarunners, including Jamie Donaldson and the Coury brothers, then was ready to go. 

We finally started, and I had to force myself a number of times to slow down, but still felt like I was going too fast.  I had hoped to run the first lap with Davy, but he took off fast and I quickly lost him in the dark.  My time at the first aid station was within one minute of the desired split, though, so that was good.  Cody and Paul were waiting to exchange my water bottle- they did a good job of preparing before each station so that I could minimize stopped time.  In fact, other than bathroom breaks, I only sat down 3 times (change shoes and put on pants) and often spent less than 1 minute at each station.  I usually exchanged my empty water bottle and gel flask for full ones and was off.  Paul and Cody were great and really helped, and my fueling system of only EFS gu, Gatorade/Heed, and S-caps worked fine. 

**Warning- some of the following is PG rated—you have been warned, so proceed at your own risk**

The first few laps were really a blur.  I enjoyed talking to so many wonderful, friendly people—I think I talked to people from at least 20 states (though not one from Texas, interestingly enough).  I got to know some of them fairly well, and would play leap frog with a few of them literally dozens of times over the next 20 hours.  The first loop went fast; the second loop was a bit slower as I battled a bit of an upset stomach, though I managed to never puke.  It was on this loop that I fell for the only time, though had a nice landing in some soft sand.  Unfortunately, I really struggled with intestinal issues from miles 15 till 65, stopping 25 times to go number 2.  Not an exaggeration, 25 times.  Absolutely ridiculous- I was frustrated after 10, then just accepted it.  It is safe to say this added at least 60 minutes and up to 90+ minutes to my time, something I will definitely resolve in the future.  Lap 1 was 3:11, lap 2 was 3:32.  Other than quad pain the whole race, I felt relatively good.  Davy ran great, too, such that he was ahead of me all the way through mile 30, and stayed close the whole race such that we kept seeing each other at various locations on the course. 

Lap 3 was a definite highpoint.  A fair portion of the race often has two way traffic, which was a bit annoying at times, particularly at night when some runners would blind you with their lights.  However, there is a 6 mile leg in the middle of the loop that is one way and was my absolute favorite part of the course.  It was very isolated and just plain fun, with great singletrack and some decent hills.  It was on this loop that I passed the 50 mile mark, officially making this the longest run of my life—and I was only half way!  I felt great during this portion of the course and flew along the trails.  I had no doubt by this point that, barring any disasters, I would finish the race.  I could tell my shoe cushion was less responsive and resulting in some Achilles and arch pain, so I switched shoes at mile 55 (to an identical pair).  The two pair of Pearl Izumi Pace shoes I wore the whole time worked perfect, combined with only one pair of Drymax Maximum Protection socks.  No blisters or hot spots at all, other than one on top of a middle toe that I didn't even know was there until afterwards.  I will never run an ultra in anything but Drymax again- and no, I'm not getting paid to say that.  Lap 3 was 3:54.

I had really been counting down to mile 60, since that is where pacers can start.  Paul paced me for lap 4 and did a great job.  I enjoyed his company and his presence helped motivate me, and I assigned him the duty of saying “Good job” to other runners, saving me a bit of energy.  By this point the field was well spread out, but I found extra motivation in the few nearby runners as we leapfrogged each other.  It was fun to experience nightfall with Paul, though having to run under headlamps distinctly slowed the pace.  My quad pain had increased such that I could no longer run any down hills after mile 75, though flats and up hills were still ok.  If anything, I was surprised my quads had lasted so far given my lack of running/pounding in recent weeks to keep my legs strong.  Paul handed me off to Cody after a 4:18 loop.   

After throwing on some more warm clothes, Cody and I started the final loop.  The going was slow and tenuous, but he did his best to be a good sport and humor all my whining and just keep me moving along.  I was still enjoying the run, though, and was excited to finish soon.  At one point, a distant group of coyotes serenaded us with some strange songs, and the frogs in the lake were also noisy at times.  The pace continued to slow through mile 97, at which point my legs could no longer run.  It was just physically impossible.  We death slogged the rest of the way, though our fuzzy math told us that sub-20 seemed likely.  We finally reached the final 100 yard finishing stretch, and I eagerly started my sprint to the finish (actually more of an awkward shuffle).  That lasted about 20 yards before my legs informed me that I had started my kick too soon, and they couldn't keep up.  We walked again, then I was finally able to shuffle the final 30 yards across the finish line with a 4:49 lap. 

My final time was 19:37:54, placing me 28th out of 344 starters.  It felt so good to finish, and Joe Prusaitis, the RD, soon arrived to give me my sub-24 hour finisher buckle.  I was herded into the warm finishers’ tent where I enjoyed the company of a few other guys while Cody and Paul got me clothes and food.  I wanted to stay till Davy finished, but my body began shutting down and I got incredibly cold and kept shivering.  I decided to head back to the hotel for a nice shower, and was excited to see Davy arrive shortly thereafter.  He ran an amazing race!  Paul and Cody were nice enough to get us Wendy's burgers at 4 am, and we finally turned off the light at 4:45 am, exactly 24 hours (to the minute) from when my alarm went off the day before.  Then a short, restless sleep and a plane ride home to the family. 

Words really can't explain what it feels like to finish the 100- great feeling.  And words also can't describe my appreciation for all the people who helped along the way- the RD, all the amazing aid station volunteers, the many participants who provided so much advice and encouragement, Davy for his advice, and especially Cody and Paul for all their help.  And a special thanks goes to my wife for allowing me to leave her for a weekend to run some crazy race.  Thanks, everyone.  Thank you. 

Overall, I am very happy with the race.  I finished, which is what I set out to do.  It would always be nice to run faster, but that is for future races.  Between my hip injury, reduced training, and especially my intestinal issues, I should be able to improve my time by several hours next time.  Other than general muscle soreness, I don't think I'll have any long term problems from this race, and I'm very excited that my hips held up [better than my quads].  All my gear worked perfectly.  I was able to meet so many nice people and spend a day in a beautiful location with great weather doing one of the things I love best.  What more could a guy want? 

There are a few photos on my family blog.

Next up:  More trail races, including the Bear 100 in September.  Possibly run either Bighorn 100 in June or Grand Mesa 100 in July, as well.  Lots of trail running this summer. 

Lessons learned for the future:

There is no such thing as too much toilet paper (nuff said!)

Gu and gatorade/HEED fueling works fine for me (with a few bananas and coke thrown in)

Having a prepared crew really minimizes downtime at aid stations- simple bottle/flask exchanges are best

Pacers rock

Drymax socks also rock

Recovery is going about as well as could be expected.  A massage Monday night helped a ton.  I have some distinct pain still in my right arch, calf, and knee, plus a bit of residual soreness in my quads, hips, and shoulders/neck.  But not too bad.  I'm taking this whole week off, then may do some cross training next week and start running again the week after.  Coming back easy.

Splits were posted today for all runners.  It's interesting to me to see how many seemingly-strong runners that I spent some time with ended up DNF'ing.  Just shows you how fickle these races are.  And it's snowing right now in Texas- we sure got lucky with the weather.

The splits show I was in 34th place after lap 1, then 37th after lap 2, 34th, 30th, and 28th at the finish.  But, almost all of my place improvement is due to people ahead of me DNF-ing rather than me passing people.

I am debating if I want to do another 100 before the Bear in Sept.  Primarily, I am deciding between the Grand Mesa 50 or 100 on July 24.  For all you experienced ultrarunners out there, is 2 months enough time to COMPLETELY recover from a 100, or should I be safe and run the 50? 

Due to my not liking the requirement to have a FRB login to comment, I have made an alternate running blog for myself.  The new one won't be a daily training log, like this one, but more an overall picture with occasional thoughts and posts.  Anyone who knows me should be able to recognize where the new name came from.

Inspired by Sean and Matt, and buoyed by his ultra-competitive spirit (and my almost-as-competitive spirit), Cody threw down the gauntlet yesterday and challenged me to a duel- a running duel.  He then mocked my injury, my haircut, my running style, and even my car.  And so I say... Bring it!  You're going down, Cody.

For the record, Cody and I will race head to head in 4 races:  Buffalo Run 50k, Pocatello 50 mile, Logan Peak Run, and El Vaquero Loco 50k.  Whoever has the fastest combined time for all the races wins.  Nice and easy.  Except for Cody, who's about to get his intestines handed to him on a platter.  Not only will I win this competition, but I will also win the accompanying trash talking.  Starting today.

Here's my insult for today- I'm so confident that I'm going to win, that I'm not even going to start running for a few more days.  Better use it to your advantage, Cody. 

PM- 7.  Foot still hurts, everything else felt fine though sluggish.

13

I've really enjoyed the Olympics and have watched as much as I can.  Not a fan of figure skating, skim through some bobsled, luge, and curling, but I really enjoy snowboarding halfpipe, snowboard cross, downhill skiing, and short track skating.  However, my favorite has been the cross country skiing and biathlon, probably cause it is so similar to running (although my wife thinks I'm nuts for watching every minute of these long events).  Yesterday's Men's 30k was the best yet- a relative-nobody Swede, Johan Olsson, broke away from the lead pack at the 15k mark, and 2 of his teammates in the pack kept intentionally slowing everyone down.  Awesome.  He built as much as a 25 second lead before finally being passed at the end (by his teammate).  But he held on for Bronze medal.  It was such a gutsy, awesome move, and I was really rooting for him and was happy to see he medaled.

What about for everyone else- what are your favorite winter Olympic sports, and have you seen any inspirational performances? 

AM- 5

AM- 4 cross training, plus my first 2 miles running since RR.  I plan to increase mileage 1-2 miles per day as my foot allows.  Hopefully I'm back on track now, so that I can actually stand a chance to compete with Cody next month.

PM- 4 running, 4 cross-training while watching the Olympics.  

PM- 5 running, 4 cross train.

PM- I have a very busy day tomorrow, so wanted to get a little bit longer of a workout in today.  6 miles running, 8 biking (including some very hard 1 minute surges).  I felt better on the run today than any of the runs earlier this week.  I wanted 50 miles this week, so should finish just about right.  Then 65-70 miles next week, hopefully.

I had 90 min between getting home from some training and Marci needing to leave.  It was a glorious, sunny, 35 deg afternoon.  I decided it would be best spent doing a trail run- I drove to Dry Canyon and had a very wonderful 45 min run.  The snow has been nicely compacted by hikers and snowboarders and was very runnable without excessive sinking in.  Very enjoyable run.  There's nothing to get your heart going right away as starting a workout by running up a snow-covered mountain for 30 min.  30 min up, 15 down.  Not sure actual mileage, but it was 6 effort.  And I could tell that I haven't used my "downhill running in the snow stabilization" muscles in a while.

I may have to start doing this at least once a week- I think you could even do it very easily after dark.  Cody, Paul, Scott- anyone is welcome to join me.  Maybe next Thursday evening and/or Sat afternoon?

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.

AM- 8.

PM- 8 more. 

AM- 6.

AM- Run with Jeff and Andrea in Idaho Falls.  The temp was about 30 deg, but there was a 25 mph wind with gusts to 35+ that made it interesting.  Accuweather says the windchill is 4 deg, though it didn't feel that cold.  Jeff let me borrow a windbreaker, which made all the difference in surviving.  It snowed a few inches, and the snow had blown onto the roads, making them very icy in spots.  We ran 13 miles, literally winding through the neighborhoods to minimize wind exposure, with lots of good chatting.  I planned to run more, but stopped by the in-laws to see if Marci wanted to run with me.  She (easily) convinced me to finish my run with her at noon, when it will hopefully be warmer and less windy.  13 miles overall at the inevitable slow pace given the conditions.  Thanks for letting me tag along, Jeff. 

PM- 9 miles with Marci around IF.  Still windy, and a bit warmer.  It was nice to run with Marci but without the jogging stroller, which would have been impossible to push today with the wind.

PM- 9.

AM- sick with stomach flu, no run.

AM- back on my feet, back to work after running 5 miles.  Unfortunately, Marci got the virus today.  And so did my mother-in-law.  Fun.

PM- 8.  Planned on 10, but started to really drag after being sick/not eating yesterday, so stopped early. 

I examined my toes last night.  Right now I am missing 5 toenails (including 1 big toenail), and have 3 black toenails.  8 damaged/missing toenails.  Only both of my baby toenails are still normal.  I think this is a new record.  

On an unrelated note, I have signed up for Logan Peak Run and Grand Mesa 50 in the past few days.  Now I just have El vaquero loco and the Bear 100 to finish off my racing schedule.

AM- planned on 7, quit at 3 due to feeling very bad (still weak from sickness).  Added 4 elliptical miles.

PM- felt much better, so wanted to do a trail run.  Ran up the Logan River trail to past Spring Hollow, including some upper loops on the Spring Hollow singletracks.  The trail was very snowy, slushy, and muddy, but not icy (yet)- in other words, a perfect spring trail run.  90 min for 10 miles with 1250 ft climbing and descending.  Slow but enjoyable run. 

AM- 5.5 in about 41 min.

PM- I was near North Logan so swung up to BST and ran 5.5 miles from above the golf course to just past the North Logan cemetery and back.  Nice weather for a run, lots of people and dogs on the trail.  I wonder when they will open the bathroom at the mouth of GC.  45:20.

AM- Long run with Cody, Paul, and Carson Campbell.  First time running with Carson, and enjoyed getting to know him a bit.  We ran from Smithfield on some dirt roads/trails to BST, then did a small bit on Green Canyon.  We ran down some roads and then a canal to get home.  I absolutely bonked with about 2-3 miles to go and slogged it the rest of the way.  About 20 miles is around 2:40.

I'm pretty happy to end up with 70 miles for the week, supposing I was sick at the start and only had 9 miles on Monday and Tuesday combined.  Next week will be near 80. 

PM- No morning run due to a late night, but I did swing by Striders running store today to buy some stuff and talked to Ben Van Beekum for a while.  Cody was nice enough to to run with me after work.  We did a medium workout, running from the fairgrounds up to Providence Canyon.  We ran up the Deer Fence trail (towards Millville), and started our tinman tempo at the top.  Strong wind from the south slowed us down a bit, but the trail was nice.  Ran two ~6:40's on the trail, then a 6:10 on the road leaving the canyon, two 6:20's through Millville/Providence, and finally finished with a bit faster 5:58.  Like Cody said, we weren't working overly hard but didn't have a top gear to run any faster.  That will come with time.  14 miles in about 1:40.  Finished just as the rain started.  Good run, for only the 2nd workout of the year.

AM- 8 mi.  Hips hurt like the dickens today from running on roads for 2 straight, long-ish runs.  Bugger.

AM- Skipped the run to rest my hips.

PM- 6 miles with Cody, then loaded up the kids in the stroller and ran PW4.  Perfect running weather- gorgeous. 

AM- 6.5 miles, followed by a stressful day at work.

Just felt an earthquake while watching Obama's speech on NASA given today in Florida.  Cool.  Not the speech, the earthquake. 

PM- 12 miles.  First 7 at ~7:30 pace, then I did a challenging hill climb.  Ran 3 miles uphill at 6% avg grade, then .5 miles at 8%, then .5 miles at 10%, all of it at 8:00 pace.  My heart just about burst out of my chest on the last part.  1 mile cooldown. 

AM- 4.5 run, 4 xt to rest the hips.

AM- Long trail run with Cody.  We parked at First Dam and ran up the river trail to Guinivah Malibu (trail is very passable the whole way), averaging 8-8:30 miles.  Then we ran up to the Wind Caves- the trail is in perfect condition.  It climbs 1000 ft in just under 2 miles, so we averaged 11:50's up.  Then we turned around and ran back to the start of the river trail.  Last week I bonked hard at mile 16- this week I felt GREAT the whole way.  We even had a few sub-7 miles towards the end.  We turned around again at Stokes parking lot and ran up 2 miles (onto the singletrack), then finally ran back to First Dam.  20 miles in 2:48:31 (8:24 avg) with about 3000 ft climbing.  The weather was gorgeous, the trail was in great condition, I had a good time talking to Cody, and I felt fabulous.  I can't imagine a better start to a day.

PM- Ran to the park with the stroller to give the wife a break.  Went the long way to get 2.5 miles, rather than just 2.  Why 2.5, you ask?  Just wait till Cody updates his blog today, and it should be obvious.

PM- Merlin Olsen park to the canal to First Dam to past Stokes.  9 easy miles, 76 min.  Beautiful day, lots of mountain bikers on the river trail.

Drove up BSF canyon yesterday to scout the Bear course.  Only snow in the high parts of Left Hand Fork- I'll probably run from Leatham to Richards to as far as I can get towards Cowley sometime next week.  I'm planning to run the entire Bear course multiple times this summer.  Also, my Grandma sent me a newspaper article from their small town paper about the Grand Mesa ultra in July that I will be running.  Should be fun. 

AM- 5.5 easy. Hips still sore from Sat.

PM- BTW with Cody.  Ran from Spring Hollow to the start of Wind Caves.  Then we ran as fast as we could (i.e. tempo effort) up to the Wind Caves Ridge- 2450 feet up in 3 very, very unrelenting miles.  The trail climbs steadily with no breaks, and we pushed ourselves hard enough that we were borderline anaerobic.   Mile splits were 11:52, 13:15, and 16:52- and yes, that was as fast as we could go.  The last mile was technical and steep enough that the trail slowed me more than aerobic/physical limitations.  It was more of a faint deer trail than a real trail, with lots of rocks, roots, snow, and a nasty camber.  We enjoyed the views at the top, then ran down to the junction with Cody wasting me on the downhill.  Always glutton for punishment, we ran up to the Wind Caves (about 400 more feet up) just to make sure our legs were tired.  Then we limped back to the car.  It was the hardest 11 mile workout of my life, but great for trail running purposes.  "Pocatello" was my oft-repeated mantra.  If it were on road, it would have been about a 15 mile workout.  But I'll take a 11 mile trail workout with 3000+ feet climbing any day.  1:49:49, which is barely sub-10:00 pace.  Rocking.  Thanks for joining me, Cody.

AM- 8 easy.  Hips are mighty sore, but everything else is great.  Not even any quad soreness.

AM- 7 easy

PM- 10 easy while watching the draft.  Go Broncos! 

AM- 5 ez

AM- Bonneville Shoreline Trail long run with Cody.  We started at Dry Canyon and ran 7.5 miles to Blacksmith Fork Canyon.  I had never run the last couple miles and really enjoyed them- probably my favorite part of the run.  Nice singletrack through some trees, and even a dead moose right on the trail.  Then we ran back to the car- 15.2 miles at this point in 2:19 (nice and easy 9:09 avg pace).  We drove to First Dam and ran the second portion of BST all the way to Paul's house- 7.9 miles.  We visited with the Petersen's for a minute, ate some of their grapes, and ran back to the car.  31.1 miles total, 4:41:10 (9:02 avg pace), with about 3700-4000 ft elevation gain and loss.  Finished with a leg soak in the icy lake.  Started to feel tired but still running well at the end, other than a bit of stomach issues which made me stop a few times more than I would have liked.  Great weather for a long run, and I don't think Cody got too sick of me.  No gear problems, blisters, etc- I think everything is dialed in for Poky 50.  Now a rest week next week, 3 more weeks of training, then the race.

Cody- for the record, Paul's house is 50 ft above First Dam.  And our extra mile is because our stop was at 15.2 miles, not 16.2. 

Recovery week, low mileage.  AM- 4.  PM- 5 with Marci and the kids, 2 more with just the kids while Marci made dinner.

PM- BTW.  Ran from the fairgrounds to First Dam via canal, then up the river trail.  I started a tempo 5 miles into my run, just before Stokes Nature Center.  3 miles uphill (6:49, 7:28, 8:20 [350 ft climbing in one mile plus slick mud = slow tempo pace]), then 5 miles downhill into a strong wind (6:35, 6:37, 6:12, 6:21, 6:25).  I took the high singletrack path toward Spring Hollow for the last uphill mile, which was much slower than the normal route along the river.  Total was 16 miles in 1:55:40 (7:15 avg pace).  Hips hurt quite a bit, which is annoying, but I felt good other than that.  Definitely a bit chilly and rather windy.

PM- 9.5

PM- 8 miles in about 1 hour.  Bread and butter run.  First run with no hip pain this week.

Just updated my blogspot with a few musings- some of you may be able to relate.

Noonish- trail run with Cody- we intended to run as much of the Bear 100 course as we could.  I scouted this run 2 weeks ago and thought it would be generally passable, but that was before some big snowstorms this week.  We drove up to Leatham Hollow (mile 19.5 of the Bear course).  We ran up the very muddy road to Richards Hollow and turned up the trail, hoping to reach Cowley Canyon 7 miles away, but fearing the snow would stop us.  Sure enough, the trail became unrunnable 1.5 miles up due to excessive snow, so we turned around and continued up LHF road.  Oh, did I mention it was windy?  And alternating rain/sleet/snow?  It was.  

 We ran up LHF, then a little ways up Herd Canyon- 9.5 miles into the run.  I never felt great this run and knew at mile 9.5 that it was going to be a slow return trip.  We turned around into torture.  The next 3 miles were miserable as we were pelted with a hard, wet snow and a very strong head wind.  We could hardly see and were freezing.  Fortunately, the wind and snow abated after 20 minutes and we didn't die, which was in doubt for a few minutes.  About this point my shoelace broke- annoying on a $120 pair of shoes with kevlar laces.  Shortly thereafter, my body completely bonked and I jogged it in, adding a little loop up Leatham.  I ended up with 16 miles, Cody ran ahead at the end for 16.5.  Other than the fact it was on trail, it was a very "blah" run- I felt bad, bonked, the weather was bad, and Cody even accused me of not talking enough.  That's a first.  Just one of those days, but at least it's done.  2500 ft vertical.  With this run, I've now done 71.97232% of the Bear 100 course.  Approximately.

See what you missed out on, Paul? 

Rest week is over.  Interestingly, I felt more tired this rest week then last week with 86 miles.  90+ miles next week. 

AM- 6.  PM- 8. 

Passed the 1000 mile mark for the year with today's run.  Fastest ever- in the past 3 years, I hit 1000 on July 11, May 17, and May 13, respectively.  I guess that's a good sign.  10 days earlier this year than ever before.  And I'm just getting into my normal mileage which I plan to maintain all summer.  Now if only all this snow will melt so I can run the Bear course...

AM- 8.

PM- BW in Ogden.  I started on the canal just north of Weber HS and ran east/south.  The trail was a bit hillier than I expected.  I did 4 miles warmup, then started my 9 mile tinman tempo.  Unfortunately, less than a mile into my tempo, the canal road was blocked.  I was forced to choose between a dirt road or a paved road... so I followed the dirt road up the mountain.  The road soon became a singletrack headed up Coldwater Canyon (one canyon south of North Ogden pass).  Coldwater Canyon is steep.  Very steep.  And technical.  I was huffing and puffing for about 3/4 mile up, then forced to walk due to the grade.  It became unrunnable, then almost unwalkable- kind of a "hold on to the branches so you don't fall backwards" type of climb.  I climbed 1080 feet in .9 mile at 16:48 pace, which is pretty dang fast for that much climbing (23% avg grade, though easily 30+% at the top).  At that point it wasn't worth going up more at such a slow pace into the snow, so I turned around and ran down in 8:35 (yes, that's how technical and steep it was).  Once I returned to the canal, I went south for another 2 miles at tempo pace (around 6:30, which was 6:10 effort plus a bunch of hills and some switchbacks).  I turned around exactly where BST started in Ogden- I'll have to go run that sometime.  I tempo-ed back, skipping my mountain climb, averaging 6:20's for the next 5 miles.  Then 3 miles cooldown with a few strides.  16 miles, 2:04:25 (7:46 avg) with 2000 ft climbing.  Avg pace is 7:04 if you exclude my detour.

Overall a great run.  Definitely the most tired I have been after a BW all year, so it was a good workout.  Essentially a 7 mile tempo with 1 mile super-hard hill climb and 1 mile super-technical descent thrown in the middle.  Fun times.  Now I need a nap!

On a related note, I stopped by Striders and they hooked me up with a Salomon repair kit for my XT Wings.  I'm still ticked the laces broke and am questioning the wisdom of wearing them on long races when you can't easily replace the laces.  Great, great shoes, except I hate the laces. 

PM- I planned to be in bed by 9:30 pm.  Instead, I didn't start my run till after 10 pm.  I wussed out due to rain/wind and went to the gym for 7 miles at 7:30 pace.  It's now after 11 pm.  My alarm clock goes off in 5 hours.  Unfortunately, this may be the closest I've ever come to being the last person out of the gym and the first person in the next morning at 4:30 am.  Ugh.  I'm exhausted.

AM- I swear my head hadn't even hit my pillow last night before my alarm clock went off this morning.  Ugh.  Very hard to get out of bed, then slogged through 8.5 miles.  At least I got the miles in.  Gonna be a long day.

PM- What a great run.  I drove to Green Canyon in the middle of a May snowstorm.  I had 3 shirts so was plenty warm, except for my legs.  It alternated sunny, windy, and snowy the first 30 minutes, then just turned snowy.  Very snowy.  I'd say close to an inch fell just during my run.  The singletrack was genarally passable the whole way to past the yurt, but was VERY, VERY muddy, sloppy, puddly, and wet.  Slow on the way up- around 9 minute miles with lots of sliding.  The way down was a mini-workout and was an absolute blast- stretches of 5:15 pace, and a few 6:00 miles.  Avg 6:15 for the way down.  I had a few interesting experiences- for the first time ever, I had to slow down on the way down because the trail was so muddy that I couldn't hold to curves at full speed without flying off the trail!  And my legs had icicles form on the hairs, which kind of tickles when they shake and hit each other.  The snow/wind wasn't quite as bad as Saturday, but was semi-blinding once in a while.  Added 1 mile at the end, then had to brush a fair amount of snow off my car- in May!  9 miles, 1:10:37, lots of fun and muddy legs.

AM- 7.75 easy.  I'll round mileage down this time (not often anyone does that!).  Trying to hold off a cold, caused by my lack of sleep.  Plan to catch up this weekend, then during my upcoming vacation to Disneyland.

AM- Cody had a great idea to run part of the Poky 50 course today, and Luke Nelson was kind enough to volunteer to be our tour guide, along with his dog, Pedro.  We started near the start of Poky 50, though added a hair of singletrack at the start.  The course is awesome and is in relatively great shape, minus a bit of snow and mud at the higher elevations.  I loved the whole thing, especially the monster hill climb near mile 9- one of those "hike straight up the mountain, trails-be-darned" kind of things.  We also added a 5 mile singletrack at the end.  I felt good, though my legs were a bit tired by the end with the mileage.  No physical problems.  Beautiful course, good trail, and it was very nice to be able to talk with Luke and have him guide us- we definitely would have struggled finding our way, otherwise.  Cody didn't feel great, but still ran strong.  It gets me very excited for the race in 3 weeks.  And I was amazed by the plethora of trails in Pocatello- trail runners there are lucky people.  Good run.  21 miles in 3:28 (9:48 pace) with somewhere between 5000-5500 ft gain and 5650-6150 loss, is my guess.  Thanks for the company, Cody and Luke.

High mileage for the year, and I feel good.  Next week should be 92-95-ish miles.

AM- 9.

PM- BTW.  Parked at USU Water Research Center and ran up the canyon.  4 miles into the run, just at the end of the singletrack, I started my tempo.  I wanted 8-10 miles of tempo, but wasn't feeling very spunky.  The first mile was the flatest and had a 6:26, but the next ones were more technical and hilly singletrack, and were 7:37 and 8:27.  The last uphill tempo was on the upper mile of the wind caves trail, so was a very slow 12:49, though that climbs almost 800 ft in 1 mile.  I didn't feel great on the steep downs, so went kind of easy.  Once I hit the nature trail again, I picked it up with some 7:XX's.  It started raining at mile 9 of the run, and the wind got rather nasty, but I had brought a long sleeve shirt and gloves so was actually warm enough.  I started feeling better 6 miles into the tempo, so ended up tempo-ing all the way to mile 14, with some 6:00 pace on the flats.  2 miles cooldown in the rain back to the car.  My effort coming down from wind caves was pathetic, so I'll only count 9 miles at MP.  Total for the run was 16.1 miles in 2:07:48 (7:57 avg) with 2300 ft climbing and descending.  Ok run- not great, but not the flop I feared it was going to be.

AM- Sluggish 9.

PM- I was planning to go running when I got home from some church meetings at 8:30.  But, my 2 daughters apparently had found an entire container of vaseline and spread it all over our bathroom- all over.  Have you ever tried to clean up vaseline?  Not easy.  So I spent the next hour cleaning rather than running.  I guess I'll have to add some extra mileage later this week. 

AM- 8 easy.  My bathroom floor was still a bit greasy and slick this morning.  I'm tempted to leave my girls home as punishment, with only Marci and I going to Disneyland this week.  I still can't believe how big of a mess they made.

PM- I hadn't run PW in a long time, so I did 2.5 laps on it for 7 miles total.  Saw Cody.  Legs are tired.  Leave for Disneyland tomorrow. 

AM- I was planning to run with Cody this morning, but 2 straight days of 5 hours of sleep, combined with going to bed after midnite last night, caught up to me.  I ended up sleeping in and running PW 4.  I'll definitely be more awake for our drive today, now, which is a very good thing.

AM- No run last night with all the travel.  I set out early this morning from my sister's house in Las Vegas.  May I say, I hate concrete!  I'd like to have a long talk with the guy who decided all sidewalks should be made of concrete, rather than asphalt, rubber, wood chips, or silly putty- anything soft.  Anyways, after 4 miles on the concrete I reached the west edge of town and proceeded to run up very, very rocky jeep trails to the base of Blue Diamond Hill.  Running through the desert beats the city, but doesn't compare to what I am used to- it is a completely desolate desert with no trees, just barren dirt and rocks.  I really wonder what in the world caused the first pioneer traveling through here to say, "This looks good- let's settle here."  He was nuts.  I wish I had a pair of trail shoes with good rock protection rather than my road shoes.  Turned around near the top of the trail with a great view of the city.  Ended up with 17 miles in somewhere around 2:20, including 1500-2000 ft climbing (best guess).  Now drive to LA.

AM- 12 on the Santa Ana river (concrete spillway) trail.  Not the nicest run ever, but it was a run.  About 7:25 avg pace.  Ended up missing a few runs this week with all that was happening (vaseline, travel), but 82 is still decent.  Not the 90+ I hoped for, but oh well.  It is what it is.  I just want all the stinking snow from the past month to melt up in the high country.

Been on vacation for a week, but finally have time to update my blog.

AM- Ran 3 miles from my hotel near Disneyland to the Santa Ana bike trail, then ran on the dirt trail.  Gravel trail paralleling a paved bike path.  Flat, except for the many road underpasses.  Started a tempo 4 miles into the run.  4 miles upriver (with a headwind) averaging 6:18 miles.  Then turned around and ran back 4 miles averaging 6:05 miles.  Threw on 1 more tempo mile for good measure, though a bit slower due to some freeway overpasses, stoplights, etc.  3 miles back.  16 miles total at 6:44 avg pace.  Nice weather, cool, humid, a bit breezy.  Spent the next 12 hours walking around Disneyland- that's gotta count for something, right?  Fun time with the wife, kids, and extended family.

AM- 14 mile easy run on the Santa Ana trail.  Oh my heavens to Betsy, my Achilles is incredibly tight and killing me!  Too much walking around on hard pavement for the past few days while pushing a heavy stroller.  7:28 avg for 14 miles.

AM- planned on 10-12 miles on the Santa Ana trail, but my Achilles was even more painful today and limited me to 6 miles at 8 min pace.  Hmm, I don't like this.  Not good, not good at all.  I was only planning on a 3 day mini-taper for Pocatello 50, but it looks like I need some major rest and rehab, so may up that rest.  No running for a few days.  The good news is today is the last day at Disneyland, so no more walking on concrete all day.

No run- rest the Achilles and drive home.  Stopped by St. George Running Center to grab some stuff.  Good to see Steve and Nick there.  Lots of good gear, including getting a new bright red singlet.  Now I'll look like a Christmas ornament with a red singlet and green shorts!

Back in Logan last night, just in time to get rained and snowed on at a church campout.  Still had a good time.  Planned to run with Cody and Paul today- looking forward to that.  Then Cody flaked out due to sickness.  Then my stomach really started... umm... how do I say this in a family-friendly way... acting up.  I bailed, too.  Sorry, Paul.  My Achilles probably needs the rest, though.  Hopefully I can get in some decent mileage Mon-Wed next week to test it out after 3 full days of rest prior to the race next weekend.

Fly to South Carolina early tomorrow morning.  Short trip with the wife. 

PM- 8 easy.  New shoes, which I may wear this Saturday.  No Achilles pain, which is good, and my legs weren't as sluggish as I expected given the time off.

AM- 9 miles on the Swamp Rabbit bike trail in Greenville.  Included 2 MP miles with about 4 min rest between, as a little warmup for Saturday.

PM- PWx2, nw, tptp.