Seeking a better country...

Start at CJH, heading south and east, to the end of the road up Mueller Canyon.  Then turn around and head back down.

Climbs:

• Orchard to Davis
• Davis to 1150 E.
• 1150 E. to end of road

Try to keep breathing.  Dad put out gatorate at 1150 E.  Tasted great. 

Overall time:  1:48  Pace for downhill portion of run was 7:02.

A.M. run, sans breakfast.  Loop around Centerville...Start at Porter, north to Chase, west to Frontage road, north to Porter, east to Island View.  Finish with a climb...those were the 2 slow miles.  Completed 6 at an average 7:45 pace. 

My left glute is sore now, normal walking not possible.

Er.  Woke up in the dark, couldn't get back to sleep, so went running.  Looped around West Bountiful Park in the damp grass, then finished with the familiar "climb" up Porter Lane to the cemetery.  Felt lousy pretty much the whole time.  Glad I went anyhow.  Average pace:  8:00.  Spent the morning reading blogs from ultras.  Feel very slow now.

Left just after 7 p.m., turns out I should have left .5 hrs earlier. Ran up to fire roads, and tripped along to Farmington Canyon. By 7:45, it was pretty dark, which was offset by the beautiful sunset over the lake. Rolled my ankle over on an invisible rock--a few expletives later I was back on my way. Getting to pavement of Farmington Canyon road was a big relief...Stopped at the Chevron to reload the water bottle, and came on home. The last few miles were a real grind. Felt sick all night afterward.

"Easy" run in the dark!  Got the girls to bed, and went out with my son as the 2-wheel support vehicle.  5 degrees cooler would have been perfect...still, very comfortable at an 8 minute pace.

 Typical loop to Farmington border and back along 400 West.  Very few cars on the road;  everyone must be home watching Sunday night football, dreading the commencement of the work-week.  Looks like I'm watching the 1954 classic "On the Waterfront" instead of the Tivo-ed NFL action.  Grape Powerade, here I come.

Drove to Phoenix this afternoon.  Got in around 10 p.m.  After 10 hours in the car it was time for a run.

Meandered aimlessly around North Phoenix in the dark, hoping no scorpions would sting me.  The lady at the Chevron thought I was nuts when I came in to grab a quick drink.  Hadn't had a run this hot in a month.

Morning run through Flagstaff. Covered some miles on Route 66, residential neighborhoods and NAU campus. Man, I wish I lived here in the pines...

The post-run soak in the hotel hot-tub wasn't very gratifying, since it was only a lukewarm tub.

I broke out the tights, long sleeves, and gloves for the first time this fall.  I wouldn't call the run tonight slow miles; they were more like medium.  On a full stomach of Otis Spunkmeyer cookies and the rest of Sunday dinner, keeping a 7:40 pace was a reasonable accomplishment.  

My legs feel funny.  Either it's time for new shoes, time for an adjustment, or they are still recovering from 12 hours of driving yesterday.  

 We made it back from Flagstaff and the Grand Canyon.  I even got to change a flat tire.  Listening to the Dodgers clinch was the highlight of the drive home, that and reaching our driveway. 

I got home from choir at 10:30 p.m.  It was cold outside.  I was hungry.  I hadn't been home all day.  It was time for a run.

Even though I wimped out a walked a couple times, I kept under a 7 minute pace for the whole run.

I went camping with the boys over the weekend.  We decided to head into Tooele for lunch on Friday, and I ran from Clover Spring to the end of the SR 199.  No Ipod, so it was boring, other than the redneck dogs that wanted to tear me apart in Rush Valley.  8.5 miles is too long to run with no beverages.

Ran to Farmington and back in the dark with Annie in the jogging stroller.  She didn't stop talking the whole time.  I told her I was out of breath, and couldn't talk.  I turned on my ipod to drown out her prattle.  She continued talking, and talking and talking.  In north Centerville there are a few acreages with sheep and cows.  She told me they stink.  She "saw" eggs and poop in the road, that's why it was so stinky.  She pointed out every Halloween light, decoration, window, etc.  Did I mention she didn't stop talking the whole time? 

The night was perfect--shorts and a t-shirt were 100% comfortable.  I left my Garmin in my dad's car from the camping trip, so numbers aren't available.  With the jogging stroller, I kept an 8-8.5 minute pace.

I finally got out the door to run at 9 p.m.  Ran hard for a couple miles, then met up with my son for his "first" run.  We went another four.  I let him set the pace, which ended up around 7:50.  I guess all the tennis got him in pretty good shape over the summer.  We decided our "finish line" well in advance.  I was happy to let him win.  Maybe he'll keep coming on runs with me...

I think my shoes are spent.  Every time I'v run for the past couple weeks, my hips, knee and especially my lower leg (tibia or fibia?  it's the lateral bone that's connected to the ankle bone) feel sore.  It all goes away within a 1/2 hour of ending the workout, but I've never been sore there before during a run.  I guess it's time to visit the ATM and see what DeBoer has...or Striders.

After the Dodgers got done being spanked by Cliff Lee and the Phillies, I ran home from my parents'.  It's not normal to be running in late October at 10:30 p.m. and sweating a lot.  Temp was around 60!  What an incredible week for weather.  I wish I weren't crazy busy with a concert.

New shoes are on the way...can't wait for them to show up and give me new blisters and aches.  I'm getting quite tired of the old ones.

Ran from home up to the Centerville Gun club.  I could be a lot stronger on hills...

This was the inaugural run on new Saucony Omni 7's.  Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know there are 8s, but I got 2 pair from Sierra Trading Post for $65 each.  Much cheaper than anything else I could find, and I ran a very comfortable 500 miles in my last pair.  Why mess with what works?  I was a bit hesitant about getting them dirty already, but the roads weren't muddy from recent rain.   

Late afternoon, the clouds over the lake were sublime. Came home and went to Chili's with the family. 

Ran to Chase Lane, down to 400 West, then home, after a slight detour at Redbox to pick up Monsters Vs. Aliens.  The run and the movie were both somewhat below average.  

After work Jens (on his bike) and I headed up to the fire roads.  I had him leave early, since he's slow going up the hills, and the first mile is all uphill.  I should have sent him earlier, or he needs to get into better shape.  We got up to the road above the reservoir, and it was pretty smooth sailing for a while.  We were up there at the perfect time of day.  It was still warm, but late enough in the afternoon that the sun was setting in a brooding, cloudy sky.  The streaks of color and light were incredible.  All the leaves have turned in the foothills, most of them have fallen, but the valley floor still looks amazing, with lots of vivid yellow, red and orange, intermixed with still vibrant green trees.  After 4.5 miles diving in and out of washes and canyons, we abandoned the trail to come home on pavement.  Jens was glad, since his hands were tired from braking, not to mention being sick of climbing out of said canyons and washes. 

The two fast miles came at the end.  I was able to hold pace around 6:45 for those last two miles.  My medial right ankle area flared up, and is sore this morning, but the run felt great last night.  I spent all day at work looking forward to it.  I'm so glad I got it in before the snow came and reclaimed that route for the next few months. 

I got home from work with plenty of light remaining for a good run.  I wanted to head up to the gun club with the Garmin to see the actual distance covered last week.  I pulled on my second shirt, tights and gloves, all ready to leave when Anna noticed.  Sitting around in her undies after a nap, she announced "I'm going on a run."  Sometimes I'm too soft a touch.  10 minutes later, I had her dressed in the right clothes, wearing the correct socks with the writing facing in the correct direction, with her "running shoes" tied.  Even though she would  be riding in style, it mattered to her which shoes she wore.  I warned her it would be cold.  She was undeterred.  Channeling Anna's stubbornness, I stuck with my hillside trail plan.  Up the hill we ran. 

Dad, why are you going so slow?  Dad, why are we walking?  This isn't very fast.  Are we going to the mountains?  How come there are no people up here?  Why are there no cars?  Are we going to see a snake?  Why is it so quiet?  I hear a river.  I want to see the river.  Did we go camping up here?  Is a creek and a river the same thing?  Where are those guys going?  This is where we went camping.  Dad, go faster.  This is bumpy.  That's a big puddle.  Ooh, that one is huge.  That water is so dirty.  Why are there no houses?  Is that poop in the trail?  Who pooped in the trail?  A horse?  There are horses up here?  I don't see any horses. I need to go potty really a lot.  Is there a toilet up here?  Are we lost?  Dad, you are dumb.  Now we are lost. 

"Maybe taking Anna wasn't such a good idea."  The thought crossed my mind two miles from home on the shoreline trail.  She hadn't stopped talking the entire run, and now she said she needed to go potty real bad.  And oh yeah, the front wheel had just fallen off the jogging stroller.  Sure enough, the rocky terrain had sheared the axle pin.  There was no way to fix it with a stick or rock.  First things first, I helped her pee on a rock.  We wiped with a blanket that was keeping her warm in the stroller.  She thought it was so funny to pretend a rock was a toilet.  She really did need to pee a lot. 

I picked up the broken pieces of the wheel and we walked down the steepest section.  2 miles at a 3 year old walking pace in the windy, snowy cold wasn't going to cut it.  I put her back in the stroller, and ran with her rickshaw style.  When we came to the steep descents, I put the stroller behind me, so she was riding backward.  I figured it would be better than eating it with no front wheel. 

Why am I backwards Dad?  I can't see.  This isn't a fun run.  I don't like being backward.  Can you see where you are going?  Are we almost home?  My hands are cold.  I peed on a rock.  Why are there houses again?  What is that girl doing?  Does that dog have 3 legs?  We aren't lost.  Is this a forest?  Here's our house. 

Finally we got down, 4.3 miles.  What a crappy run.  I took her inside, left the stroller on the front lawn, and went for 2.5 more miles.  Ah.  No stroller to push.  Out and back flat, just to finish strong, and salvage something from this memorable outing. 

After spending 5.5 hours raking leaves, aerating lawns and trimming bushes, I foolishly concluded a run was a great idea.  The route I chose was probably more challenging than was prudent; a jaunt along "Centerville Boulevard" between Deuel Creek and Freedom Hills Park.  

That said, the sunset was AMAZING.  On a scale of one to ten, it was in the eleven-twelve range.  The clouds filled the sky in layers, so there was plenty of canvas to hold the orange, pink and purple.  

By the time I made it to the park, I was pretty well spent.  But I still had to run 3.5 miles home.  Oh well.  

Splits were:

8:41. 9:06, 8:51, 8:18, 7:50, 8:17, 7:34, 7:18, 7:02 for a tenth of a mile.  Try to guess when I got back to the flat pavement.  For bonus points, determine which part of the course is the steepest climbing.  I definitely need to get stronger on the hills.

I guess this run was in lieu of the Provo Half marathon tomorrow.  I had every intention of signing up, but didn't feel like my sore leg needed to do 13 downhill miles.  Good luck to my mom and sister.  Hopefully their costumes won't slow them down too much. 

60 degrees on November 1st?  I couldn't miss out on that.  I left around 4:30 p.m.  Lots of other people walking and biking felt the same way. 

I stuck to the pavement today, and left the little girl home.  I still haven't fixed the jogging stroller.  Ran a loop from home to Parrish, to Legacy to Pages, and back.    Found the newly completed path along the old railroad right of way.  It's more attractive with trees and barnyard smells, and it keeps you farther away from the sewage treatment plant.  I guess it's a wash as far as aromas go, although the compost piles at the landfill smelled particularly good today.  Lots of fragrant leaves...

Since I had been pigging out on my kids' Halloween candy, I wasn't feeling the best for the run.  Couldn't find the Garmin again, but did the 6.5 miles in 51 minutes....7:50 pace.  That sounds about right, factoring in the walking and pit stop at 7-11.  Regrettably, the city has winterized all the park toilets.  Additional planning and/or route limitations are now in effect.  Crap.  Or should I say darn?

This was my NASTIEST run EVER.

Imagine a scenic jaunt along Gladiola street, (3200 West)  from 2100 South to 500 South. 

The sights:  Cement plant, plastic distributor, dumpster storage yard, power lines, fan manufacturer, vacant lots, etc.

The smells:  Detergent manufacturer, actually smelled good.  The dumpster yard, horse manure and stagnant water from a holding pond were kind of stinky, not to mention the omnipresent diesel exhaust.

Route and scenery aside, this was a pretty good run.  For one, I left in the middle of work.  For two, it was a balmy November day with temps in the 50's.  Can you say shorts and sleeveless? 

On the downside, some joker stole my pullover.  I left it right outside the door at work.  When I came back 45 minutes later...gone.  I guess one of the assemblers decided they could add it to their wardrobe.   I'm sorta ticked, cuz that was my overshirt for the Ogden Marathon.  I wore it for the first six miles before shedding.  At the same time, it's hard to get very worked up over a shirt I bought at DI.

Splits:  7:08,  7:20,  7:24,  7:08,  6:58, 6:46  

Ran from home along Centerville Blvd. to Freedom Hills Park.  I had to detour to Reading to use the facilities, and came home on 400 West.  The morning was amazing.  The view of the valley in sun, from the mountain in shadow was resplendent. 

I followed the run with 5 hours of leaf raking.  Pretty much I'm sore everywhere. 

Whatever was bothering my tibia before seems to be going away.  I don't know if it's the new shoes, or getting off the pavement onto trails, but the pain doesn't show up until 6-7 miles, rather than 3 or 4. 

I'm having lots of regret for the races I didn't run.  My current lament is for allowing the California International Marathon deadline to pass. 

10:01, 9:10, 8:18, 8:12, 7:45, 7:15, 8:08, 7:49 

9:56, 9:08, 8:35, 7:43, 8:11, 7:44, 7:05, 7:01

I met my big sis at the Jordan River Parkway.  We had an enjoyable 6 miler under cloudy skies, temp. around 60.  Stopped for tacos at Las Guerras afterward.  Yum.  Kept the pace at 8:00, which was a bit slower than I would have generally run, and perhaps a bit faster than she would have wanted.  Good run, though.  It turned my lunch hour into an hour and a half.

I hate to put them down as slow miles.  7:48, 7:23, 7:05, 7:28, 7:23, 7:28.  Looped from home to Reading on 400 East, back along 400 West.

They were okay.  I've been sick with the cold...all the kids gunk finally caught up to me, preventing me from running days.  (longest layoff since the Odgen Marathon)  My mom convinced me to run the Thanksgiving 10k tomorrow, so I figured a training run was in order. 

I felt great all night, afterward.  During was a different story, but I kept it going.

I'm not officially listed in the results with a chip time, or any time for that matter, since I jumped in and ran the race unregistered with my mom.  Don't worry, I didn't eat any post race bananas or bagel halves.  There is nothing special about this flat, boring, residential course, however, it was a lot of fun to see so  many people out doing something healthy on Thanksgiving. 

This is the second year we've run this race, and no doubt, the second of many entries.  The winning time in the 10k was 37 minutes, or something like that.  Maybe next year I'll train for this race...

Ran from home to Shoreline trail, aka Centerville Blvd.  Out and backed 3.5 miles.  The trail was in good condition, except for northern exposures.  These were icy or muddy.  I saw several people, but even more magpies.  The afternoon was warm enough that I shed my gloves by the end, and didn't miss having a hat.  East breezes overnight had cleared out the gunk from the valley, so the lake views were sparkling clear. 

A bit cold this morning...17 degrees.  I didn't warm up again until 2 in the afternoon.  Ave pace was 7:47, on the roads to Jennie P.  Ipod died after 15 minutes.  When I put it by the car heater, the battery still had 2/3's charge. 

The only redeeming quality of this run was that it was a run.  The view & temperature were very sub-optimal.

Ah, Saturday.  Spent 5 hours getting ready for and taking a family picture.  We finished by 3, giving me enough daylifght remaining for a fairly ambitious run to Farmington canyon.  The roads were icy, until I got to the dirt roads on C-ville blvd.  These were just snowy.  The view from the mountains sure beats that from the valley.  In many areas, I was the first to track up the new snow.  I saw the eagles and hawks coming into the canyons to roost for the night.  Slipped and fell 2x.  No damage done.  I made it to Farmington Canyon just as the sun was setting in the far southwest.  Ran a mile plus on pavement back to the gas station for a donut and ride home.  8:43 average for the entire run, which isn't too bad, considering the care I had to take on downhills in the snow.  The hot bath afterward felt amazing...I sure got cold waiting for a ride home.

6 miles @ 8 min pace on the treadmill.  MNF and a Jazz game were on, so it was tolerable.  The treadmill says I'm slower than on the road.  Seems strange.  If I was working that hard on the road, I'd be around a 7 minute pace.  

Shoveled driveways for 5 hours.  This has to count for something, since it made me too tired to run.

Another round on the treadmill.  Boring.  Mind-numbing.  At least Live Free or Die Hard was on FX.  It's nice the wreck center has cable.  Running on the treadmill is the only chance I get to watch Jazz games.  

 It's funny how many people get on and off on the adjacent machines.  I probably ran next to 10 people in 50 minutes.  The best part of this run was the cooldown.   

Shoveled driveways for 3 hours.  This has to count for something

Shoveled driveways for 5 hours.  This has to count for something.

7 treadmill miles.  Niners won, Jazz lost.  What a boring, drag.  I guess it's incrementally better than icy streets.  60 minutes.  I reiterate my belief that the treadmill shorts me on pace.

Ran my usual trail run along the fireroads.  They are all snow covered.  It was early enough that things were still frozen, and traction was fine.  Crunching through the snow on less traveled portions of the trail was a great ankle workout.  I was sluggish until the return on the flat roads.  60 minutes to complete the run, which is a piss-poor pace. 

Treadmilling during MNF.  It's becoming a tradition, for only 2 more weeks.  I got my groove on for the last couple miles.  I hate being cheated by the treadmill on pace and distance.  HR at 155 for the last bit, after a relaxing warmup.  Speed ranged from 6 to 8.2 mph.

Treadmill, Christmas Eve.  The gym was packed.  I'm getting used to this treadmill thing.  Really hot inside felt better than really cold outside.  Afterward, I froze my butt off riding the 4-wheeler in the mountains, so it ends up even.  

More Monday Night Football treadmill miles...Bears were leading the Vikings.  Ugh.  It's 15 degrees outside, not to mention black dark...  I've got the rest of the week off from work, so I'm looking forward to some daytime outside runs.

 I registered for the Ogden Marathon on Christmas Eve.  I can't decide if I should pony up the $140 for the winter race series to get ready. 

Six more dreadmill miles in a mostly empty gym.  Did some hill repeats while sledding at the ATV park as well.  No injuries to report from sledding.  

 New year running goals...Well, I am registered for the Ogden Marathon.  I still need to chart my course and figure out where I buried my fire and will.  I hope hope hope that the way I feel on the treadmill doesn't have anything to do with the road times.

 Happy new year.