Seeking a better country...

15 degrees outside, but sunny.  I had to tend the napping girls, so I stayed inside and watched the Outback bowl.  Yesterday's issues seem to have resolved; I kept things at 8 minute miles.  It's amazing how 25% slower yesterday felt like death, and things felt fine today.  I really overworked with those snowstorms.  Good for the billing cycle,  not for training.  

Week one of Boston training is over.  I kept runs at the recommended paces on 3/4 runs, worked in New Year, and several dozen driveways.  It was all manageable...oh yeah, I only showed up to work ONE DAY.   We'll see how week two and three resolve.  Work this week, then Disneyland the following...

Family plank contest.  I got 3:26, good for third place.  My 6 year old daughter won with 3:56, my 11 year old came in a close second at 3:54.

Six on the treadmill, 5.25 at 8:00.  The balance was warmup.  I got through football night in america and the first half of the Seahawks and Rams.  I'm already looking forward to the "speed" workout this week:  warmup and cooldown with two 6:20 miles, .5 mile recovery jog in between.  Treadmill or Legacy?  I hope it's outside.

Plank:  4:06

2 episodes of Jeopardy and 1 of Survivor.  Today's workout was warmup, followed by 2x1600 at 6:22, 800 jog recovery, cooldown.  The miles felt fast, but not out of control fast.  The warm-up and cool-down felt fine.  I'm glad I was inside, rather than choking down this worse than cigarette smoke gunk we like to call air.  How is it that people look askance when I suggest building more roads is a bad idea?  

 Later--plank 3:26.  I just didn't have it...but I beat all the kids.

3:30 plank.  No kids beat me.

7 in the evening.  We are getting set to drive to Anaheim tomorrow, so it was a squeeze to fit this in.  7.25 miles, 61 minutes.  Not great, not terrible.  I'm looking forward to a 14 miler in the California sunshine on Sunday.  Sure beats this cold.

14 miles, 7:47 pace, in Anaheim.  What great weather.

We got back from D-land at 8:00.  Had to get some runs in this week.  7 miles at 7.2 mph.

Loops around the Motel area.  Finished up at the lost and found looking for my hat that went missing on Space Mountain.  No luck.  Bought a new Angels hat as a replacement.  It's much more aesthetically pleasing.  Long drive home tomorrow.  Back to the snow.  65 degrees for the run, after all day at the pool.  My little ones are burned.  Oops.

Did this long run on the treadmill.  Overall pace was 8:33, but the most common setting was 8:06.  I had some walk breaks for drinking and one pit stop.  No comments about the scenery, but I got to watch playoff football.  The new used tv is working out great.  3 weeks in, feeling good.  I'm getting blisters on all my long runs.  I may have to try better socks.  New shoes came in the mail while we were away, so I'll be wearing those on the shorter runs next week.  I'm sort of looking forward to the stepback week, but not getting back to work.

Ah.  A great day with temps in the high 40's.  I left work early to squeeze in a run before darkness fell.  As I exited Legacy, there was a huge cloudburst right over my planned route.  I drove through a maelstrom of hail, wondering if I would be forced inside.  By the time I pulled in the driveway, the weather abated.  I changed quickly and got out the door.  

I had been looking forward to this run all day, reflected by my fastest mile up to the BST ever.  (9:39, including 400+' of climb)  The road was wet, but well drained, so mud wasn't much of a problem.   The view of the valley was incredible; a fantastic sunset was imminent.

 The trip back home on the pavement was less resplendent, but still great.  Breathing freely outside was a welcome change, and the sunlight reflecting orange off  the clouds gave everything an otherworldly appearance.

Overall pace for the run was 8:20, which represents a solid effort given the terrain.  Splits are: 9:39, 9:57, 8:26, 8:47, 7:43, 7:32, 7:00, 7:33. 

I've been dreading this 5 mile tempo run since I missed it last week while we were perusing the offerings at Disneyland.  This week is "stepback" so I figured I could do a make-up today.  

Usually these entries have a weather and air quality report, so I'll say it was around freezing, with a slight wind from the west and clear air.  Running 10 yards from a highway probably negates any clean air advantages.  Also, running directly east of a sewage treatment plant when there is a slight wind from the west tends to reduce the air quality, at least in the smell department.

So I warmed up for 1.675 miles, and pushed start.  6:47, 6:47, 7:03, 7:04, 6:50.  Cooled down for the balance.  I'll blame the 7:03 for decelerating to turn around.  I have no answers for the 7:04.  I was gratified to hold pace.  I felt side-achy for 40-60 seconds during the last miles, then it would go away.

7 miles @ 8:40 on the treadmill.  I never really got in a groove.  Probably should have gone outside.

My son dropped me off where the pavement ends, which saved 400' of climb.  BST to Freedom hills, 3 loops around the park then home.  It was a nice afternoon, and Tyler got the tile all cut for the bathroom counters while I was gone.  Now I gotta set it and grout it to be ready for sinks.  The kids will be excited.  I'm not.

Thus ends the stepback/recovery week.  I haven't even looked ahead to see what lies in wait...ignorance is bliss.  How long does it take for 6:45 to feel like 7:30?

7 miles at 8:00 pace.  I wore the hrm.  First mile was 160, then settled down to 125 for the next couple miles,  rising to 140 and holding at the end.  Interesting reaction, but what does it mean???

On a separate note, I nearly concluded Survivor Samoa.  I'll probably get back to that, then expunge it from my DVR permanently.

1 mile warmup at 9:13.  6 miles at 6:53, 6:40 for the last .75.  

Heart rate was in the 120s for 9 minute pace.  I was in the 130's and 140's for the first 4 miles, then the 150's, peaking at 155 for the last 2.  What a sweaty mess.  I'm glad the basement is in the low 60's.  It's nice to complete a workout I've been half-way dreading for the last six days.  I shouldn't be such a mental wuss.  

Now I get to go play booby trap with my 4 year old.  How are you supposed to play that game correctly, anyway?

I got home from work at 8:30.  Said hi, and jumped on.  60:30 minutes, last two miles @ 8:00.  Slow.  But it felt fast enough for today.  18 on Saturday.  I hope the air clears up by then, but I'm not holding my breath.  (8:39 overall pace)

Plank:  0:00   Well, actually I demonstrated one for a co-worker for about 0:15, but that's not really worth mentioning.

The long run.  So, I went out for the first nine myself.  I ran to Freedom Hills, (3.1) then did laps (3) and came home again to meet my sister for the second half.  Legacy seemed like it was too close to a freeway today, so we headed back to Freedom Hills, did laps and came home again.  I wanted to target 3 faster miles on 14, 15, 16.  The laps around the hilly park weren't very conducive to this, so I ran hard on the road for 16 and 17.  Regrettably, I inadvertently pushed stop while I was scrolling back and forth from distance to heart rate, and lost record of those faster miles.  HR was in the 160s, so I figure I was around 7:20 for miles 16 and 17.  I had a 5 hr. energy at mile nine, and I much prefer that over gels.  I was as strong or stronger for the second half of this run.  I was a bit short on liquid at the end, but overall I'm really pleased with this workout.  I didn't just complete the miles like I usually have on a long run.  

My new shoes felt great; I think I'll order a couple pair more.  I hope they are still clearing them out at Runners Warehouse.  

Overall pace for the run was 8:02, including walking up the hill to the park.  Shannon was tired.  This run included 2000' of elevation gain, plus those two quicker miles, so...for me, that's a very solid result.  Hopefully I can stay home today and relax instead of heading into work again... 

7:40, 7:33, 7:46, 8:10,  8:41 (hill climb to park) 7:51, 7:55, 7:29, 7:47, 8:15, (Shannon joined) 7:46, 7:46, 9:37 (walk up the hill) 7:55, 7:42, 7:20?, 7:20? ....  

To celebrate the air you can breathe and not taste, I ran inside.  I rebooted "24" season 1.  Good show.  7 miles, 57 minutes.  Take away a <1 mile warmup, and that's 8:00 pace.  

Several toes are messed up from Saturday.  Bummer.  I like the one purple toenail better than the black one.  Gotta keep those nails trimmed.  5k and 20 miler on tap for this Saturday.  Why did I sign up for that winter series? 

3:30 plank during Biggest Loser

I got home from work at nine.  Onto the TM.  1.5 warmup, then 3 @6:22 with 800 recovery between, 1.5 cooldown.  The last lap on each mile was pretty tough.  I wore the HRM but it seems I didn't push start.  Ah, the downfalls of technology.  Anybody running the Striders Winter Circuit in Ogden?

It was one of those mornings on the treadmill.  I don't know anything about those.  I've never run on the tm in the morning until today.  Now I'm super late for work, and still need to drop my daughter off at pre-school...I'm coming down with something in my throat.  I'm trying to knock it down with Ricola, emergen-c and colloidal silver.  I have enjoyed remarkable health since I started running 3 years ago.  I've never been knocked out for more than a day or two, and that's only happened 2-3 times.  

The first part of the run was a 5k.  Made it to Ogden by 7:45, grabbed my shirt, # and chip and got ready.  I had a very solid warmup for about .6 miles.  The "gun" went off and we were away.  This course is not a pr course.  It's hilly like crazy.  The first .5 went by quickly, then the climbing started.  .5 to 1.5 is mostly uphill, so there was lots of passing going on.  Finally we caught a break with some downhill to recover, followed by more wonderful uphill sections.  The last mile was mostly downhill, except for the lovely uphill finish.  Gosh, I LOVE THOSE!!  I held on, and valiantly fought the urge to walk several times.  I couldn't stand to have people I passed go by me because I felt a little uncomfortable and wimped out.  

So after the race, I got some *****ade, and ate a muffin half.  I was ready to go, and as I was driving away, saw a lady starting some miles.  Well, I'm supposed to do 20 today, so I asked her if she'd mind some company.  She kindly obliged, and we ran and chatted for another 4.6.  Turns out she ran at BYU with Nan, and is a killer runner.

 Then I drove home.  I changed my bottom shirt for a dry one, and headed out for 10 more miles.  I took the same course as last week, and it was killer.  No 5 hour energy, plus I'm a bit sick, tired and overworked this week compared to last.  I got them in, though.  Overall pace for the bonus, post race miles was 8:30.  This is a bit slower and fewer than my calendar calls for, but for today it's more than enough. 

Now I'm at work, furiously cutting more implant parts for a Monday deadline.  Hopefully I can finish today and not be stuck coming in again tomorrow.  (I mean that "hopefully" like, "come hell or high water I'm going to finish this stuff today")

Finally, a weather and air quality report.  It was a temperate morning for early Feb.  The air seemed clear.  I could see individual clouds, and even small sections of blue in the distance.  Airnow.gov puts us in the yellow/moderate range.  I'll take that.

I've been sick.  Even so, I had to get some miles in, after nothing on Sunday and Monday; unless you count Super Bowl bingeing as a workout.

So I mounted up the treadmill and ran a bit slower than usual, in deference to my upper respiratory tract infection.  I cranked it up for a 2.5 7:30 miles in the middle.   I coughed 2 times, and felt pretty well for the whole run.  My wife and I simultaneously watched Biggest Loser on separate tvs.  She handled the remote control duties, which was nice.  

My pre-run fuel was 2 chocolate chip cookies.  Recovery drink was the remains of a CrownBurger chocolate shake.  It thawed nicely during my 90 minute run.  

I can't figure out how much or if I should cut back this week until I get over this thing.  I haven't been sick for more than a couple days in the past 3 years.  This thing is going on 7 days now... 

This run was kind of sluggish because:

1.  I went to work on Wednesday at noon

2.  I came home from work Friday at 4:30 a.m.

I slept till noon Friday, woke up and had some lunch at Chilis, took another nap for a couple hours, then embarked on this run.  Home to BST to the start of the climb in Farmington, then back to Freedom Hills and home.  As usual, the climb up to BST was tough.  There was no hill I didn't do some walking on.  It took until I was heading down the switchbacks (around 6 miles) before my body finally accepted I wanted to run, and I was able to pick things up a little.  

This week has been a terror;  between being a bit sick and working the running has kind of gone off the rails.  I'll go long tomorrow, and hope that the coming week improves.  Meanwhile, I'm enjoying a leisurely Saturday trying to decide about tires, exhaust system and tie rods on my 16 year old Civic.  Ah cars, how I hate them.   

Each mile cost $180.  I dropped my car off to get fixed for "safety" inspection, and ran back to pick it up.  I'm beginning to feel recovered from the long work week.

It was such a nice day.  I had such good intentions.  My youngest daughters are both sick with a cold, so I stayed home from church with them.  After a big lunch and a couple hour nap, we were going to tackle this run with a couple kids on bikes for as long as they wanted.  That would have been nice, cuz someone could have carried supplies.  Instead, I ended up with my 42 lb four-year-old in the jogging stroller.  

We ran down to I-215 and back.  I got started later than I intended, and as the sun got lower in the sky, she started to get cold.  I called for a ride home for her at 500 south, which freed my from the constraint of the jogger for the last 5 miles.  I was glad to have her company for as long as it lasted.  Runs with Anna invariably feature peeing in highly public locations.  This time it was off to the side of LPT around mile 1.  I asked her if she needed to go potty when we passed two construction portapotties, and she told me no.  But 15 minutes later she was on the verge of peeing her pants.  I'm glad we got it taken care of, since she would have been a fair bit more cold for the last 3.5 miles if she was wet.  I'm sure she was bored, but she kept up a steady stream of prattle about everything in sight.  I guess it took my mind of pushing her a little bit, but at times I would have rather zoned out to some music. 

I drank about 24 oz of water, ate 5 packs of smarties and had a 5-hour energy at the turnaround.  The mile after I got rid of the stroller came in at 7:23, overall pace for the run was a surprising 8:16.  My training plan says I should be doing long runs around 8:00.  So one more longish run in the bank.  I'm anticipating a better week ahead, without being sick and having complete insanity at work.

I thought I'd try to get the staleness out of my legs with 4 slow miles.  It didn't seem to work.

Lunchtime run on Jordan River Parkway.  I saw one roller blader, (I followed her for 3 miles before finally passing and dropping her) several bikers, more walkers and no dead bodies.

Running during work is nice, but it's a long time to be punched out.  I stopped for tacos on the way back at Las Guerras, and my mouth is still burning.

I headed north for 1.5, turned around and exulted in the headwind for then next 4.5  Coasting back to my car with the wind at my back was definitely the best part of the run.  Overall pace was 7:33.  Mile #8 was 6:45.

This run was a battle royale.  I spent 5 hours shoveling driveways this morning.  After lunch and a bit of a nap, I tackled the BST, or rather, it tackled me.  10 minute miles, walking, gasping, spitting, coughing.  Around mile 3 I came across a couple of partially digested deer carcasses.  I ran to the upper road in Farmington, then headed back.  Without realizing it, I had run 4.5 miles with a tailwind, and had to fight all the way back.  Around mile 6 I felt a little bit warmed up.  I think it corresponded with getting out of the mud and snow and onto pavement again.  Miles 8 and 9 were the only ones I ran without walking, I think.  

So to sum up, 9 miles that pretty much sucked from a running standpoint.   The views were nice enough, though.  8:50 overall pace

8 in 68.  TM incline varied from .5 to 3.  Early miles were slow, the end ones were quicker.

This run has been looming over me for weeks.  10 miles, 8 miles at 6:53.  I know, that's a pretty relaxing pace for many runners. 

I didn't feel great getting started at 8:30 p.m.  I did the first mile at 9:00 and cranked things up to 6:53, figuring I'd just hold on as long as I could.  After 3 miles, I told myself to keep going until 4.  Then, "If you've gone 4 you can go 5," and so on to the finish.  

I don't know why I'm intimidated by these quicker workouts, or the 7:00/mile pace.  I've never failed on one of these workouts, and all my shorter races are below this pace.  I normally don't feel amped up enough to "race" a workout.  I guess that's not necessary.  If I can hold on for 8 miles at that pace on a night like last night, it should be doable anytime.

8 TM miles in 65 minutes.  1st mile was slow warmup; I made up for it with a couple quicker ones toward the end.

I've felt better than I do now.

OAP:  7:55

The beginning was better than the end.  I was pretty good until mile 14.  By then my 16 oz of gatorade had become insufficient to sustain an acceptable effort level.

At times like these I seriously question whether I'll do another marathon after Boston.  I'm sure I could be just as fit training for halfs, and much less beat to crap.  I just feel lousy.  I realize one should feel somewhat lousy after 20 miles, but this just seems stupid.  My day is shot, probably my tomorrow, and I have two more of these runs to anticipate.   Perhaps I'll have a more intelligent fueling strategy next time, and enlist some company for some of the miles. 

Maybe beating Lance isn't all that important.

I started my course specific training last night with the help of some molding.  I put a couple boards underneath the back end of the treadmill so I could run downhill.  I did 7 miles, then put it flat and ran 5 more.  Jack Bauer finally rescued his family, but now a new threat has arrived to endanger Senator Palmer's life!  Will this day never end?

I thought about doing a plank, but then I changed my mind.

Interval Wednesday--the target was 4x1600 at 6:15 with 800 jog recovery.  I totally hit the 800 jog recovery, except some of it was walking.  Mile 2-3 were into the wind, mile 1-4 were with the wind.  To quote Kai,  "Let's do the numbers."

5:56, 6:15, 6:23, 6:14

My legs feel different than usual after 10 miles.  More lead-weighted and dead.  Great workout.

11 miles, 99 minutes.  That says it all doesn't it?  I am still a bit thrashed from the mile repeats, and didn't have any mental toughness to gut out this run at a better pace.  I did 8.5 with the boards, to simulate the downhill running.  My calves are pretty sore.  I rolled them out along with glutes and feel some improvement. 

The weeks are flying by...

I'm not sure which shoes I wore...

My daughter accompanied me on her bicycle to Freedom Hills.  I ran laps around the park until she got bored of playing in the water, and we headed back home.  By then I was at 3.5 miles short of 16, so I did laps around the soccer field, with no shoes.  The grass was dry, warm and soft.  There was only one part that was a bit spongey.  Or is it spongy?  Anyway, it was a great afternoon run; what a difference a week makes!  Last week I was trudging around in a snowstorm.  

I didn't go very fast, but the park laps include several climbs, so I'll blame my lack of speed on that. (3100' of climb for the run)   Overall pace was 8:16, which included some visiting time with my support vehicle. 8:16, 7:49, 7:56, 7:54, 8:03, 7:52, 8:28, 8:04, 8:43  (drink break?)  8:15, 8:12, 8:42, (putting my clothes back on) 8:28, 8:32, 8:06, 8:17.  No burners, that's for sure, but at the end of this week, I'm satisfied to put the miles in the bank.

I'm not sure about doing another 20 miler next Saturday.  Burnout?   

2.2 episodes of "24" later, I complete the run.  Then I pull speaker wires in the basement, and I have 6 new holes in the drywall to show for it.  Followed by a blizzard drive to Clayton to watch my neph portray Captain Von Trapp.  I wouldn't call this my best run, or day.

8 miles downhill. 

5 downhill miles at 7:30, the rest were uphill while I chatted with my mom on the phone.  (10 mm) 

My 2nd left toe is jacked up.  Blisters, now infected, and swollen so it's .25" longer than my big toe.  If your second toe is longer than your first toe, do you still call your first toe the big toe?  I think so.  It's sore enough it woke me up in the night with the throbbing.  I'm considering amputation.  What's a toe among friends?

10 miles, 87 minutes.  Poor Jack Bauer.  I did no downhill running today.  My toe is doing better.  Morton's toe and continuous downhill running don't get along.  

Today we went to the ultrasound.  It's a boy, due July 30th.  Everything looks to be in order, which makes me relieved.  I'm so excited and grateful about the good news all around.

Tomorrow is the 10 miler in the Ogden winter series.  I want to keep it under 7:30 pace.  It'll be my tempo run for the week.

The race, followed by 10 additional miles on the trails between the Events Center and Ogden Canyon.  I stopped by my sister's to identify her fruit trees on my way back.  What a great Saturday!  Too bad the 20 miles made me so thrashed all I could do was lie about all day.  I'm still waiting for race results online so I can include placing and exact time.

So with .2 miles to go, I had reeled in the green shirt guy in front of me.   He had earbuds in, so he didn't hear me.  I wanted to see if he had any in the tank, hoping I could maybe outkick him.  As soon as I came alongside him, he took off like a frightened deer.  I should have waited, and maybe could have got past him.  It turns out I should have chased a little bit, because our chip times were 2 sec. different.  I could have "beat" him, without really beating him.  Rookie mistake, I guess.  Overall pace was 7:25, with which I am satisfied.  I could have come in quicker, but knew I had 10 more to do, so I was a little on the lazy side.  I'm in striking distance for 2nd place in my age group for the cumulative time, but only cuz the leader leaped into the overall standings.  I'll run the half, but will probably forgo the final 30k the Saturday after Boston.  We'll see how I feel.

I left work early enough to come home and do this 10 miler before dinner and leaving for the Jazz game.  Lucky--our neighbor had spare tickets.  They blew a 21 point lead before winning in overtime.

So I had been reading blogs all day, and was feeling pretty punchy.  I went pretty hard the first five miles, walked and ate jelly beans for a 9 minute #6, then alternated hard and laid back coming home.  My son came on his bike, and got one of his 10 mile rides done for Cycling merit badge. 

Overall pace for the run ended up at 7:30, which is bugging me.  Take away one lazy mile, and I look really good.  Add it in, and it's a fairly pedestrian run on a much easier course than the one I ran on Saturday.  I need to step it up a notch mentally, I think.

For snacks I had sour patch kid watermelons and hershey kisses.  11 miles, 89 minutes.  I varied the incline with a several miles of downhill, but mostly flat and slight uphill.  This run was quite momentous, as I completed Season 1 of "24".  On to season 2, although it won't be that treadmill time of year much longer.

Following the run I gorged myself on fajitas at Chilis.  I highly recommend this recovery meal.

After we went to the food bank to finish off community service for my son, I came home and watched the BYU/Wofford game while running 10 miles. 79 minutes, to keep average pace just under 8:00.

What's with Jimmer jacking up that long 3 with 8 seconds left? Not a real classy move, if you ask me. The game is out of reach, nobody is playing defense; just dribble out the clock. At least it was a miss. I hope karma doesn't bite back.

BST to the private road in Farmington, then home via Freedom Hills.  It was pretty cold.  I was gassed from aerating lawns all morning, so I never got on top of this run--obviously, since it took me 90 minutes to complete.  No punch, no spring, no lightness, just plodding along willing myself not to walk most of the time.  

After cleaning up yards for 5 hours, I hopped on the TM for my scheduled 10 miler.  The sun came out, so after 10k I hopped off and finished outside in the wind.  I should have ran south to start, because fighting the headwind home was un-fun.

4 weeks to Boston.  One 20-miler looms this Saturday.  I'm not sure if the piece of hamburger that is masquerading as my 2nd toe agrees with the training plan.

 Oh yeah, something momentous happened on this run.  For the first time since I started 3 years ago, my shoe came untied during a run.  I may have to go back and read all those stupid runners world articles about how to tie your shoe.  Then again, maybe not.

So, this run didn't start off to be much.  But it turned into something better than expected.  Monday I found a leaf raking muscle in my right hamstring area.  It's been very sore.  I rolled it out during Biggest Loser on Tuesday, and it was still sore Wed.  I figured it would curtail my run a bit.  Furthermore, it was my daughter's b-day, plus Court of Honor, etc... so by the time run came around, I thought it would end up a half-a$$ed effort.  I checked my training plan, and saw an 11 miler with 6 miles at 6:44 on tap.  Oh joy.

 I got on and warmed up slow for 2.  I decided to split the fast miles into 2 threes.  But instead of wimping out, I kept going and did them straight through.  

 The cooldown was nice.  I enjoyed one of my 40 cent purple powerades, and ran an extra mile for good measure. 

One thing I love about running is it shows me I can do more than I think I can. It may not always be wise, and you have to pick your spots, but there is better than we think inside of us.  Without running, I would never get a chance to tap into this hidden reserve.

This run was brought to you in part by La hacienda, sour patch kid watermelons, powerade and "24" season 2.

11 miles, 90 minutes TM.  I started a new pair of shoes today.  They stayed tied.  This run was brought to you in part by gross chicken wings and meatballs.

I still haven't figured out a game plan for the 20 miler tomorrow.  I thought about running up and down City Creek, but I don't want to add commuting time on to an already too long activity.

The final long run, looming for 13 days, is over.

I met up with Spence for the first 10 on the Blvd.  Spence is a solid runner, like a metronome, hovering around an 8:45 pace.  We did the first 10 in just under 90 minutes.  I dropped him at his house and met my sister for the last 10.  These were downhill and flat miles on 1500 S., Legacy and Pages.  She saw me drinking a 5 hour energy and got nervous, but we ran pretty easy for the second 10 in 83 minutes, including a failed pit stop at Maverick.  (clock was running)  So we picked it up a bit, but can attribute most of that to the downhill.  I'll take a negative split anywhere I can find one.

The whole run was 8:36 pace, which is 40 seconds behind recommended.  I'm not sweating it much; they are miles in the bank.  I thought long and hard about aborting this run, but I'm glad I completed it.  I feel 70% today than I have after any of the others I attempted this cycle.  Maybe it's the slower pace, fueling or something else.  In any case, it's nice to have 20's in the rear view mirror.  I'm beginning to hold the opinion that it's pointless to run 20 miles unless it's in a marathon.

Thus ends my peak week.  Ahhhhh.  The taper.  This isn't much of a taper compared to previous plans.  We'll see how all this work pays off.  My sister talked me into backing off and running the winter series half easy next week.  Save it for Boston, she says.  I'll save it for Boston.  The winter series will be there next year.  I'll go all out for that 1:25 another time. 

Following the run, I had an easy ice bath with SNOW from the back yard and a much needed shower.  The offending clothes are already in the washer.  It's so nice to be done at noon and feel like I may be able to accomplish something besides lying around the house and moaning about my sore feet and legs.   Enough. 

Ah, the treadmill.  Jack Bauer found the nuke, but it turned out to be a decoy, so LA is still under threat of an explosion.  Oh, the horror!

I ramped it up to 7:20 pace for the last several miles.  Overall time was 80 something minutes.  I dropped my shirt and pulled the magnet and lost track of the time.

After Tyler and I finished the backsplash, it was finally time to run.  We cleaned up the saw, and the temp was so nice, I decided to do half outside in the dark to take advantage.  Out and back to Cutlers.  After that, I did 5 more on the tm and watched Biggest Loser with Tami.  

Around sunset, I ran to my dad's to watch opening day.  Kershaw outdueled Lincecum.  We ate some cheetos.  The run was hard.  It's a good climb.  

I've been going back and forth all week about the race Saturday.  Should I go all out, or save it for Boston 16 days later?  On the long run last Sat, my sister talked me into taking it easy.  Since then I've changed my mind and am planning to go pedal to the medal.  The way I'm feeling this week that might not translate into much.

 On a separate note, those Fusion shoes might be done for all but the shortest of runs.   

Running around the westside at twilight.  My left calf is sore from sat.  I spring off that leg when I'm trying to go faster, but not all out.  Sometimes I stand up and almost fall down, until I remember.  It feels better this am.  I have sick kids at home today hugging the toilet seat.  Hopefully I can get them to puke before I go to work.

My daughter turned 7 today.  There is no one on the planet sweeter.  After we got the cake, chaser and presents done, I put her to bed and hopped on the TM.  I think this is the last tough workout before the marathon.  8 miles, 6 at 6:45.  

Following 1 mile of warmup, I did the 10k in  41 minutes even, while watching 24 and biggest loser.  Instead of a nice bowl of strawberry ice cream, I'm having wheat toast instead.  I should have stuck with 24.  Great after work day today.   

TM, 8:30 pace.  Arguably the best moment of all 8 "24" seasons came up on the run...when George takes over the plane and detonates the nuke.  There was a tear in my eye as the run finished.

OOH.  This was my last "long" run.  To freedom hills, with a couple of laps around, and one trip up the switchbacks, just for fun.  Guess what?  The drinking fountains were operational!  That's great news.  It's time for 6 of the best weeks of running all year to begin!  Wow.  That's a lot of exclamation marks!  

My nerves are all a-jangle in anticipation of next week's race.  I need to stop checking the weather... 

I went on this run to make sure I still know how.  At this stage, going for a run this short seems silly, since my legs never fully warmed up by the time I came home.  But the plan says what the plan says, and I'm sticking to the plan.  (I was only supposed to go 3.  Talk about pointless...)  I have ants in my pants about some race that happens in 6 days.  

It seems like the taper is making me more sore than training.  I've got aches and pains everywhere, it seems.  My theory is that scaling back the running is allowing 4 months worth of numbness to subside.   

 I think I'm going to watch Biggest loser and pick rocks out of my shoes.  I don't want to carry all that extra weight on the marathon.  I've been contemplating a radical weight loss program as well.  The theory being that whatever percentage of weight you lose leads to a corresponding increase in speed because you are carrying less.  My wife discouraged me from dropping under a buck fifty.  So I'm still eating candy all week long--Cadbury mini eggs and starburst jelly beans.  Many people eat fruits and veggies in season.  I eat candy in season.   I figure I gotta go with what got me here.   

This was an out and back run around Burlington, MA.  I saw a real live turtle on the running trail.  I picked it up and moved it off the path so no other runners would come and step on it.  

By the time we got back from touring around Boston it was dark and raining, so I did my final tuneup on the TM in the exercise room.  There was a girl next to me that wouldn't talk to me.  After she left, I opened the door to the outside to get cool air in the room, and the run felt much better.

Wow.

 To limit this to a race entry seems impossible.  I had a great trip with my wife and parents.  My mom also ran in the race, performing very well in what she claims is her ultimate marathon.

Relating to the blog, we got together in Chinatown Saturday night with smooth, runningmama, tomslick, rhett, doone, hillbillyrunner, rattletrap,  and others I'm forgetting.  Regrettably, the tables weren't large enough to accommodate all who wished to partake, so our group was split in two.  Thanks to Smooth for coordinating what turned out to be a very pleasurable and palatable meal.  It was wonderful to put faces with names, and get to know some inspiring and kind people while eating dim sum. 

Each evening upon returning to the hotel, we watched the local news, and the forecast got better each night.  Monday arrived partly sunny, with a rare westerly wind.  The conditions held until 10 for the start of the race.  My dad got us to Hopkinton state park in plenty of time to use the portapotty and catch a bus to the starting areas.  We got to town around 9:00.  Rather than head to the village, we hung out in the park, and watched the wheelchair, handcycle and elite women start.  I did catch a glimpse of AmberG as she took off, and sent good thoughts Nan's way for a fantastic race.  

After that, I headed back to corral seven with 1000 other nervous skinny people.  Right on time we were heard the gun.  4.5 minutes later I crossed the starting line.  

Impressions and musings:

I have never run a big marathon, so this was unprecedented, to see nothing but a sea of athletes in front of me.  No glimpse of the road was available at all.  The first couple miles were a bit congested, but things opened up a little as the roads got wider.   Seeing men peeling off every 100 feet to pee in the woods was a crack-up.  Turns out it's maybe something I should have done.  The crowd was a fantastic thing to experience for the first time.  I gave a few fives, got a few yells, and ate lots of oranges.  The girls at Wellesley were something else.  The Newton Hills weren't much, but as it turns out, they were enough.  Seeing the Citgo sign was more enthralling from Fenway Park than from the middle of the road, and the distance to the finish line from where you first see it is farther than it looks.

I had an aggressive/unrealistic goal of 3:07.  By race day, I knew that wasn't possible and revised to 3:11.  At the last minute, I decided I wanted no splits in the 8's.  I didn't do a lot to keep myself on track, other than know I needed to run around 7:15 miles.  I wore no pace bracelet and wrote no splits to keep myself on track; my only check was infrequent glances at the current pace on my gps.  This was dumb for achieving a goal, however, it made the race more pleasurable.  

I didn't know how much of a bump to expect coming to sea level.  There is 12% more oxygen at sea level than at home.  I think this made a noticeable difference.  I don't remember feeling ragged or out of breath during the whole race.   In hindsight, I wish I wore the HRM to see if this was true or all in my head.  I also wonder if all the gels and 5 hour energy had anything to do with it.

You never notice a tailwind till you turn around.  Mercifully, the course bore west almost entirely.  There were times I felt a push at the crest of a hill.  I know the absence of headwind helped.

In meandering all over the road to avoid drinkers, give fives and eat oranges, I ran an extra quarter.  My overall pace for the marathon was 7:24, compared with 7:26 in Ogden last spring.  So was this a PR even though my time was a minute slower?  Does it really matter? 

I made it to mile 23 before I really melted down.  Before that I had brief pauses to pound gels, but got right back into the flow.  I ran straight through the Newton Hills, and things looked pretty good for the finish I was looking for, but my mind just went crazy.  "This is stupid.  Who cares, anyway.  What difference does it make?"  I had 20 of those thoughts for every positive one, and I gave up the fight.  After walking for a while, I vowed that was the only stop.  A quarter mile later I was walking again.  More vows, and I lasted almost a mile before walking again.  I did manage to come in without any additional nonsense.  

After the race, I sat around in the cold waiting for my mom to finish.  She came in at 4:22.  I had a couple forbidden cheeseburgers for dinner, (complete with McStomach afterward) and slept very soundly.  

Splits:

7:24  felt slow
6:59  great
6:54  great
7:03  great
7:13  great  
7:08  great, gu at mile 6
7:13  great
7:11
7:04
7:07
7:16
7:07  gu here
7:16
7:07
7:20
7:01
7:31  5 hour energy here, hills begin
7:51
7:28
7:57
8:01  heartbreak hill
7:24
7:34
8:13  brain-fart 
7:59  continues
7:47  
7:42

Does anybody run a marathon that they don't wish they were 5 minutes faster?   I'm very satisfied with how things went.  In terms of best experiences in a lifetime, this trip and race are in the top 15.  

Also, I read Cold Mountain and almost finished 1776 on the plane today.  And we went to Gloucester, Plymouth, Salem, Cape Cod and a whole bunch of other places that had famous dead people and really old graves and stuff.  The clam chowder at Spanky's clam Shack in Hyannis was amazing, and I wish Dunkin Donuts would find it's way to Utah. Also, I moved up 2400 places from my 6366 bib seed, so that makes me glad.  Enough.  

My neighbor Jeff picked me up around 6:15, and we drove up to Eden.  He had family staying in their cabin there.  We stopped by to use the bathroom, but nobody was awake.  They thought the race was commencing at 8:00, so they were glad we woke them for the 7:30 start.

My participation in this race was not advisable, but I had to try.  I was in 2nd place in my age for the series with 2-3 minute cushion on the guys below me.  I wanted to hold position and get an award.  

The first 3rd of the race was fine.  I was hovering around Marathon pace, and running comfortably and conversationally with Merilee Blackham.  Once we hit the aid station at mile 6, she kept cruising along while I slowed for gu and water.  I found another "friend" to run with, but got dropped around the turnaround.  I was really starting to suffer.  My legs were just dead, and I still had 9+ miles to go to the finish. 

I held on all right until the last 3rd of the race.  By mile 14, I was walking and limping.  People were passing me like crazy, and it was bugging me.  My sister came up to cheer, and she caught me at my worst.  I thought about hopping in the car and catching a ride for my first DNF.  Instead, she went ahead to the next aid station and got me some drinks.  I took one last gu, and decided to keep going. 

 After she left, I would run for a while then walk.  Usually the threshold to put an end to walking was 3 people passing me.  Once the finish got close enough, I did hang on and run 1.5 in a row, and nobody else passed me, but by then the damage was done.  I'd fallen from 2nd place to 11th in my age group.  My time was 20 minutes slower than my 30k split at Boston 5 days earlier.

In hindsight, I should have stayed home in bed and let Jeff run on my entry.  It would have saved him $50 and got me some extra sleep.  He finished 30 seconds behind me.  We hung around for a little while after the race, then drove back.  During the drive home, things locked up pretty good.  I couldn't really walk, and my right hip hurt a lot.  I napped for a while and took a motrin, then finished the day mowing lawns for a few hours with my son.  It was nice to have a mower to hold onto...like a walker.

So now I'm trying to figure out when to go for a run again.  It would have been fine to restart on Saturday, but not for 18+ miles.  Maybe tomorrow, I guess.

To freedom hills, up the switchbacks, and home on BST.   The air was so brisk and scrubbed clean I could taste it.  The headwind on the way out was a bit cold, so coming home was perfect, right at sunset over a brooding western sky.

I got up early to meet Amy and AndyB for a run up City Creek Canyon.  We had a little trouble getting together due to accidents on I-15 and my inferior communication skills.  Once we hit the canyon all was well.  Amy was a rockstar and hung with the boys.  Andy never broke a sweat, and I had solid effort.  We couldn't get to the top of the road due to deep snow, around 2'.  I didn't want to flounder for the next 1/2 mile falling through the crust, so we turned around and enjoyed descending from 6100'.

Usually I have to go skiing to see scenery that beautiful.  I didn't expect to be running in 3" of snow one day before May.  I'm glad I was. 

My legs still aren't right.  I'm will continue to take it easier this week and let nature do it's thing.  I don't want the medical people getting involved if I can avoid it.  But scraping sounds kind of nice. 

 p.m. 6 hours core, upperbody and cross training with lawnmower, trimmer and edger.

I got home from work and quickly took the little-A girls down to Legacy.  We rode 3 miles north and came back.  In between we stopped approximately 10 times to rest, throw rocks, pee in the bushes, rest, cry about tired arms and legs, etc.  As far as runs go, this wasn't a delight.  I finally told littlest-A girl I would give her 20 jelly beans if there was no more whining.   She closed her mouth with determination, and didn't say a word for the remaining 2.5 miles.   She said it kept the bugs out and the whining in.

There were a lot of bugs.  I saw some huge bird, but couldn't get close enough to be sure what it was.  It was flying low, with a 5' wingspan.   

3 hours of cross training, core and upper body...AKA lawn mowing.

My treadmill had been feeling lonely.  I got started around nine, planning to do a 666.  Between my still funny legs and a lingering sinus infection, I couldn't hold on at all, and walked a bit after 2 miles, so my overall time was 63 minutes.  It was good to see Jack Bauer again.  I wish I arrived home a bit earlier so I could run outside in the daylight.  

I need an event to get on a training plan.  Getting ready for Ragnar isn't specific enough.  After daily consulting a piece of paper for 4 months, this feels a bit too loose. 

2 hrs cross training, with trimmer, broom and lawn mower.  I feel like I should get miles, cuz doing the lawns makes me "too tired" to run.

After 4.5 hours of mower cross training, I ran home from my Dad's.  I took Davis Blvd, then made my way to 1300 E, to wind back down Northern Hills and catch dirt Davis Blvd.  Then I found a single track to follow all the way to my usual haunts on the BST.  I crossed a stream I'd never seen before; I wonder if it's around during runoff every year, or maybe just this year.  There was a small, 5' waterfall, and I nearly decided to hop down and take  a bit of a shower, but I didn't want wet shoes for the rest of the run.  I ran to about Chase Lane, then came down to 400 E. to get home.  

The best part of the run was the trail, and the fact that my legs feel none the worse for wear.  I'm joining Spence tomorrow for 10 of his 15er; I hope that's not overdoing it.  Also, I found a former worker to take over most of my mower cross training.  I'm VERY happy about that. 

I ran with Spence on BST between Bountiful and Farmington.  I am encouraged that my legs feel fine afterward.  Maybe I can increase speed & mileage in the next couple weeks.

My daughter wakes up pretty early.  I guess not early for some people, but earlier than everyone else in the house.  She likes to have some unsupervised time watching PBS Kids, snuggling with her blanket and a heat vent.  Even though she's 7, she still will take a 2-3 hour nap on the weekends, but the early starts take a toll on her behavior and agreeability during the week.  

Now that the days are longer, we decided to go on run/bike rides in the morning.  She woke me up at 6:30, and we thought we caught a break in the rain.  The first mile was misty, but it rained hard on us for the rest of the run.  She pedaled along on her crappy pink bike, splashing through every gutter, puddle and curb cut.  We were both soaked from head to toe when we got home for breakfast and hot chocolate.  I'm glad she wanted to come. 

Maybe the rides will tire her out and she'll sleep better.  It's win/win for me, cuz I get to spend more time with her, and her little sister who very slow on the bike, sleeps until 8, so we don't have to drag her along. 

This run/ride was about the same as yesterday, minus the rain, and we went to the baseball complex rather than Freedom Hills.  

The run was worse because I didn't eat any breakfast first, so it felt more difficult than usual.  I haven't run on empty for months and months.   

When the sand pit/playground was full of water and puddles around all the equipment and swings I got a stern lecture about why bark and wood chips are a superior playground substrate.

She woke me up again.  After my oatmeal and her cheerios, we got out early enough to make all the way to Freedom Hills.  I can't believe I have a 7 year old running buddy.  I did a couple circuits around the park while she played on the rocks, and we made it home by 8:00.

While the girls dined on pizza and played at the playground, I ran up the "wiggly" zig-zag trail over to the 2nd Farmington Creek along BST.  I found a gnarly hill to walk up, and got over 5000'.  

9 hours trimmer cross training.  I'm very tired and thirsty.  4 mtn dews today, and I'm considering a fifth.  Bad habit, but it tastes so good.  I also had 20 oz milk, 32 oz powerade, 32 oz water.  

3 hours cross training followed by 6 hours of sand and brick paver rearranging.  I ppd my 14 miler till tomorrow.  Dinner at 5 guys.  My daughter (15)  pounded her burger in the time it took me to take the littlest one to the bathroom.  I was very impressed.

7 miles inside with Jack Bauer, 7 miles outside in the stiff wind and heat.  When I got home it was 79.  I had 32 oz powerade and stops at the parks for more water.  My legs felt like the bones had been removed and replaced with something more rubbery.  This week wore me out.

Misty morning run on BST.  Little-A wouldn't come with me, despite promising donuts at the end.  She thought it was going to rain.  Turns out she was right.  I was soaked by the time I got home, esp. my feet from brushing against the tall weeds on singletrack.  I have a lot of trouble when my shirt gets extra wet.

I got out for this run when the rain slowed down around 7:45.  I promised I'd put the girls to bed, so I needed to keep it under an hour.  I guess I was feeling punchy, because I knocked out 6 in 43 minutes.  I haven't run fast for any duration in a month, so this felt GREAT.  It's nice to get a reminder that I still know how to run.  

I can't settle on my next marathon.  I don't want to run them just to run them; I want to race marathons to improve and PR.  Is desnews to soon to accomplish that purpose?  I don't think there is a physical limitation, but there may be temporal and mental limitations that would make that somewhat akin to Layton last fall, which was basically a throwaway marathon.  With how busy I am right now, and even feeling a little burnout, my current thinking is to register for TOU, rather than desnews.  On the other hand, the nice thing about desnews is you can register for the low price until 1 week before...so if things are feeling groovy, I can jump on in.  It might be an interesting experiment to do it without a succession of 20 milers, or a complete waste of a holiday and $65. 

.25 warmup, then 5 miles at 6.3 mph at 5.5 incline.  There were lots of leds lit up on the effort gauge;  the sweat running off my head and back confirm this.  Cooldown was 7.3 mph at 1.5 incline;  felt very relaxing after the steeper miles.  I'd like to get better at ignoring the "I need a break" voice.  Better yet, I'd like to figure out how to turn it off.  

Huge props to all the Ogden Marathon participants.  FRB had a very good showing, up and down the field.  While I spent all day yesterday finishing a bathroom and mowing lawns, my mind wandered often to the road down Monte Cristo, around Pineview, and down Ogden Canyon. 

Today's run began at 6:30.  I headed south for a change, warming up for a mile on the road before heading straight up the hill to BST.  I ran BST to Farmington canyon, noting extremely high water in all the creeks, as well as 2 never before encountered streams.  The runoff situation is dire, and only going to get worse.  I ran down Farmington Canyon to the pond, with water gushing over the spillway.  I'm already sad for the people who will be drowning this spring...fingers crossed people will use common sense and be careful.  

I felt pretty good through this run.  I don't have pace info, cuz I'm too lazy to upload the data from the Garmin, but I ran some pretty fast, hard miles on the singletrack, and on the road home.  I got home with the luxury of 10 minutes to get cleaned up and dressed for a 9:30 meeting.  I was right on time. 

I think it's time to put these shoes into the lawnmowing pile, but they are still pretty good for shorter runs.  I hopped out for a quick 5, and surprisingly did a quick 5.  I enjoyed the frog chorus down on Legacy, and many foul and fair aromas as I passed horse pastures and wisteria.  Temp was perfect, and I wore my HRM.  130's feel rock steady and indefinitely sustainable.  Anything in the 140s seems considerably harder.  At the tail end, I opened up to (my) fast speed, and got up to 160.  More useless numbers.  Overall pace: 7:30.  I need to quit calling those fast miles, since my goal marathon pace is more like 7:00.

I wish the default setting wasn't times new roman.  I'm so sick of that font. 

My diminutive running partner awakened me at 5:45.  Actually, the noisy bird beat her to the punch by 45 minutes, and I was just laying there, half awake.  She gently nudged me and asked, "Dad, are we going on a run?"  I grunted yes.  She said, "I'll come back at 6:10, you better be ready."  I had my oatmeal, she had her cheerios.  To make things difficult, her little sister who is far less competent at riding a bike was awake and wanted to come too.  I settled her in with the Nintendo DS, and we left.  It was a resplendent morning.  On the way back, we stopped at Fresh Market for a donut.  She picked a white frosted with red, white and blue sprinkles, "Because Memorial Day is coming up, Dad."  I should have bribed her with a donut last week.  It was nice to have her company again after a couple weeks off.

Tonight my running partner was 11.  Her bike has gears, so she did a much better job of keeping up.  We went down Parrish to Legacy, around the pond (as far as possible, before deep water forced us off the path).  The pelicans were right off shore, and we got a good look at them taking flight.  Quite a wingspan on those birds.  The pond loop was kind of spontaneous, and by the end I was quite thirsty.  We stopped by WB park to get a drink, but the *#$%#'s haven't even turned on the fountain yet.  Yes, I checked the calendar and it is May 27th.  I guess the parks budget must be cut and they can't afford the water.

This was part two of the relay practice.  Sort of.  I ran in the evening last night and then again early this morning.  Following all day of lawn mowing I'm going to go for 8 to see how tired I can get.  My running partner played at three parks while I ran around sort of close by.  We stopped again for a donut, thus explaining the presence of my running partner.  She was very slow today, which suited me fine.

a.m.-p.m.  10 hours of upper/lower body and core cross training with lawnmower and trimmer.  I thought I had solved this problem...

I had a big job lined up, but the rain led me to cancel.  After taking care of that important business, I went back to bed till 10 or 10:30.  It was still cloudy and cool, so I headed out for a half.  The loop was flat and scenic, viewing the mountains dusted with snow, and green with spring growth.  

I tried a new beverage today:  Mountain Dew.  It was too sweet.  I ran the first 5 miles pretty hard, (7:15 pace) then walked for a drink.  I wish I had water to follow that up.  Then I got past the turnaround where my son and his friend finally caught up with me.  I headed east on State, and we visited for a while.  I told them my pace wouldn't be very exciting, so they should ditch me home.  They dropped me like a bad habit.  I had one 10 minute mile while we were chatting.  So the last four miles were unremarkable until the last one.  I wanted to hit it hard, just to practice going faster while fatigued.  I got a 6:58.   

After the run, Tyler came over and we fixed the masonry on the front porch by wrecking the masonry below my window and fixing that too.  Also he finished the garbage can pad brick pavers, and window trim pieces that needed to be routered and cut.  The list of jobs around the house is endless, but we keep chunking away at them.  Someday all the tile will be grouted, walls painted, cracks caulked, weeds pulled, etc...That went from 1-9.  Ash came in this morning wanting to go for a run.  We played Zelda instead, spending some quality time in Dodongo's cavern.

A little after 10 p.m. I got out the door.  At the turnaround I stretched for a bit.  I stopped at Fresh Market to get bananas, and just barely made it before they were closed.  Temp was pleasant, if a bit warm, and man, it was dark.  I almost fell into Ricks Creek.

This evening provided ideal conditions for a run;  cloudy, brooding sky, amazing greenery, cool temperatures.  Unfortunately the run didn't live up to conditions.  It took 4 miles before I ever found a groove.  

On a separate note, I got the bad news today that my runner #5 for Wasatch Back in 2 weeks has a stress fracture.  Good luck filling that slot on a regular team, let alone an ultra. Did I mention she was going to cover the Ragnar leg?  So if you want to join up, let me know.   Leg 1 is 7.1 miles, Leg 2 goes for 17.3, and Leg 3 is 7.6.   We've got a really cool shirt coming.

City creek canyon with Amy and Warren.  The up was great, the down was down.  We did see the tiniest bit of snow near the bowery at the top.  I'm having second and third thoughts about the wisdom of WB Ultra.  I guess it's too late for that.  Hubris.

I went to bed last night around 12.  I woke up on my own around 5:40.  It's already getting light, but I stayed in bed for a while, laboring in the stupor of semi-sleep.  Around 6:00 I dragged out and got my stuff on.  I skipped yesterday, so I was overdue for some miles.  As I was leaving, I heard footsteps behind me, and my little running partner was wrapped up in her kitty blanket.  We chatted on the porch for a while, enjoying the quiet morning and watching the birds.  I promised to make her breakfast when I got back, and left for Freedom Hills.  It was warm this morning.  I felt sick to my stomach and my left knee hurt in the first 1/2 mile.  I got a drink at the cemetery and just kept going, albeit slowly.  The climb is rough on a good day.  Once I hit the firebreak road I mostly felt better.  The canyon dips were refreshingly cool, and it was early enough there was no sunlight.  After coming down the switchbacks, I got a good drink at the park, and headed home on the road.  By the end I was feeling good, and Chevelle's Evening with El Diabolo came on the iPod.  That song makes me run fast, so I finished up with a 7:00 mile. 

I came inside after watering the lawn and cleaning up a bird that flew into the window.  I found my other running partner sleepily wandering about.  She wanted to play Zelda, so the three of us did that for a while instead of having breakfast.  I didn't make it to work until 9:30, it was such a nice morning. 

This was and ADHD run.  I started off on the field/grass to take it easy on myself.  After 4 miles I was soooo bored I headed down the street to another park with a drinking fountain.  Then I thought I'd run up the hill of the 5k course.  When I got to the turn I saw a guy running further up the hill with his dog.  I thought I'd try to pass him.  I caught him and we chatted for a while about Ragnar.  Then I was at the Parrish Lane trail head, and figured I might as well enjoy the sunset from the trail.  I followed the trail 10k course to the turnaround but didn't turn around.  I ended up in Bountiful by the spring runoff creek with no name.  By now it was pitch dark, so I slowly picked my way over the dirt road back to Deuel Creek, and home on the road.  

I got adjusted today, hoping for better run recovery.  So far all I've ended up with is a huge headache.  No pain, no gain, I guess.  This run was inspired by Laputkas heavy mileage tuesday.   

The noisy birds got started around 5:00, so I was lightly sleeping when my running partner showed up at the side of my bed.  We ate a little, and headed out with a 46 degree start, pretty cold for June.  We ran to Farmington and came back through the baseball complex.  Running with Ash on her bike is a delight.  

I forgot.  The second best thing about this run is that the russian olive trees are blooming now.  It smells so good! 

My running buddy woke up early puking, so I went alone.  (she's better now)  I left around 6:30, temp around 60, with cloudy conditions; even after sunrise there was no sun.  Knowing this, I headed for Legacy, mainly to enjoy the blooming russian olive trees.  They didn't disappoint.  There was no traffic anywhere getting to the trail, which is a pleasant thing about being up on Sunday morning.  After I got to the trail, I saw a runner 2 minutes up ahead.  I got the itching to catch him.  Usually I can catch people, but today I couldn't.  This guy was going hard enough that I could overtaken him, given enough time, but I just wasn't hungry enough.  The first time I timed the gap, he was 1:45 ahead.  At the next turn, about 1/2 mile later the gap was down to 1:30.  A mile later, 1:15.  By now, I had been running pretty hard for 4 miles, and was getting sweaty and thirsty.  He showed no signs of slowing, so I gave up and had a few pulls of powerade.  He probably didn't even know we were racing, but it got me moving faster than I would have otherwise.  I turned back at Glover, and for fun ran down the Davis Creek trail, cavalierly giving back the climb for a few minutes by a stream and enjoyable downhill.  Reclimbing 1340 S made me have second thoughts about the water course.  

In summary, I came in 11 miles in 88 minutes.  Not great, but acceptable.  It's hard to go all out on Sunday morning.  I got home before anybody was leaving for 9:00 church.  All my kids were still asleep.

I woke up this morning early enough to go pick up my wife's car at Kmart.  I didn't know how far the distance would be, but my estimate was 5.5  I did a little extra in the cemetery, so my guess was right on target.  (someone should pay me $100)  Usually I run north, and it's much better that way.  There were too many cars.  I'm nervous about wb, and proud of all the marathoners.  

After last year's WB with a family and fill-ins team, I wanted to do the relay as more of a challenge, so this year I put together an ultra team.  Originally, we were destined to be the winning/only mixed ultra, but one our runners pulled out with a stress fracture.  SteveP of the blog graciously and capably filled in at the last minute, and prevented us from having a really tough weekend.

I was runner #1.  For reasons unknown we got assigned a 4:00 p.m. start time.  We arrived in Logan to find scores of Ragnar volunteers sitting in the shade doing nothing.  There were no other teams in sight.  After completing exhaustive safety training, we went to the start.  Nobody was there.  A 3 year old said "On your mark get set go" into a microphone and our saga began at 3:30.    These two legs run through Logan and other small Cache County towns.  Normally there are vans and people on the course.  I didn't see another runner in 13.6 miles.   It was kind of warm and running through various sprinklers felt pretty good.  I spent quite a long time wondering how many legs we'd have to run before we caught up to anybody, and how long we could hold off the teams that started after us.  (it wouldn't be long)

Earlier, I strategized running these legs with no iPod.  I wanted to give myself something to anticipate on subsequent legs (say it with a long e).  In hindsight, I wish I used the headphones.  It would have broken up the monotony of this solitary, sucky training run in the heat of the day on busy streets that I missed work for, and drove for an hour and a half to get to.  Off to a great start...and not exactly the Ragnar experience I was looking for.  Overall pace was 7:59. 

After epic legs by Amy and Andy, we reached the exchange in Liberty.  We made good enough time we were catching up to the event.  The exchange wasn't mega-crowded, but there were people around, and ENERGY.  Van two took off for their short legs around the lake, and we went straight on to Snowbasin.  Van 2 rolled into the exchange around 11:30 p.m., and I took off.  The first mile was uphill over terrain.  Blinking lights marked the "path", and due to the dearth of runners, I had to pick my way over snowbanks and across small streams to follow the lights.  Eventually the lights led back to the road, and I descended Trappers Loop.  It was dark, but for the pale moonlight filtering through the clouds.  I was happy to see a few blinking tail-lights in the distance, and thought I might finally pass a person or two.  I could judge the distance by cones placed in the road, and with mounting excitement, I closed the gap two just over 2 cones.  It took me a mile to shrink the gap to 2 cones, another 1.5 miles to get to 1 cone, and finally I passed a runner.  The downhill was working for me; I had several miles in the high sixes.  I reached the bottom and started thinking nervously about my 3rd leg.  I slowed down and tried to take it easy going into Peterson.  There were a few people on the course, and I was thrilled to see my parents and son at exchange 14.  They had been filling volunteer shifts up the road at 15 and stopped by on their way home.  I finished this leg around 1:00 a.m, loving the cold, night running.  I liked seeing my breath, snot and spit in the headlamp.  The temp was great for shorts and long sleeves, except at little wallows where the temps felt 5-10 degrees colder.

Andy finished strong legs into East Canyon, where Ragnar was in full swing.  We had an uneventful handoff to van 2, we decided to head for Oakley to sleep for a while.   After finishing her legs, Amy made a bed in the van and was sleeping.  When Andy and I got in after the handoff, we just assumed she was back there still.  We drove for about 20 minutes before it occurred to me to actually check if she was there.  She was, thank goodness.  It was 3 a.m., and I was beginning to nod off driving around Rockport, so Andy took over.  He took a wrong turn and got jammed up at the Rockport exchange, but eventually we made it to Oakley.  Amy slept pretty hard in the back the whole way.  She did overhear us wondering if she was actually back there.  It was pretty funny, like 3 a.m. funny, not actually funny.

So we were finally in the thick of the Wasatch Back.  Oakley rodeo grounds were crowded.  We parked, and tried to get some sleep.  As luck would have it, we parked next to the morons who had huge speakers rigged on their van top, and as soon as the sun came up, they started blasting Beastie Boys.  What a bunch of morons.  We moved to a new parking spot, only to go exit the frying pan and enter the fire.   We were a captive audience, regaled with intense, over-loud, epic tales of legs, exchanges, roadkill etc...  So the chance to sleep was missed.   Besides the sun was coming up, and I can't sleep in my bed when it's light, let alone in an uncomfortable car.  We had some pancakes, and waited for Van 2 to show up.  

Continued from yesterday...

So Van 2 was about 1 hr ahead of expected.  We'd been waiting at the exchange, and had word Warren was 2 miles out.  After soaking all the fun in at the exchange and washing my hands with real soap and water, I was ready to finish off my legs.  I was walking down to the exchange, and decided I better detour into the ball diamond restroom.  It was a good call, unfortunately, Warren arrived a little sooner than nature's final call.  Our only exchange foul-up was my fault; we lost 2-3 minutes.  Feeling bad, I downed a 5 hr. energy, and vowed to make up the time.  I passed lots of runners, but didn't make up much time.  After the 4 legs the night before, my left foot and calf were somewhat unhappy with me.  I responded by running these miles around 8:15 pace.  When I got to the "One mile to go" sign, I turned it on and ran a 7mm to finish.  There was a stream running right by the exchange, so in a Ragnar highlight moment, I took my shoes off and put my feet in for 20 minutes.  That water was COLD, but it numbed my foot down and felt fine for the rest of the day.  

So that's about it.  Amy and Andy finished their final legs in similar fashion.  We all decided to skip the finish line, and headed home.  I made it to my driveway by 3:00, cleaned up until 4:00, and went to a BBQ at 6:00.  I checked my weight before the BBQ, and was down to 144; the relay cost me 7 lbs.  I'm back at 149 this morning, after hoovering everything in sight last night.  I don't know when food ever tasted better.  

Results aren't up, and I haven't even spoken with any of my Van 2 peops, but I'm very pleased with our performance.  We clawed our way from solitude into the thick of the event, and had a great time.  Hats off to Amy, Andy, Natalie, Steve and Warren.  It was a great time;  I'm looking forward to next year.  It's hard to imagine not spending the third weekend in June on the backroads of the Wasatch.

Still feeling a bit funny from Ragnar.  My left foot feels mostly better, and the knot is gone from my calf.  But limping around all day Sun & Mon have jacked up my right low back.  I hope this race wasn't the start of a bad cascade, but I'm not too worried.  (famous last words?)

Maybe this run wasn't so smart.  After taking a week of "active" recovery at scout camp, I was eager to hit the road this morning.  Despite bedtime around 1, I woke up on my own at 6.  Ate some oatmeal and headed out to survey the damage on my broke-down trailer.  I got there in 3 miles, and headed up to BST, and ran home on north Davis Blvd.  The dry creek in north Bntfl. is dry once more.  My foot hurt a bit, but it wasn't much of an issue on the run.  Now, 8 hours later I'm limping around like an 80 year old man.

Time for a double dose of vitamin I-- ice and ibuprofen. 

I got home from work last night with my legs felt really good.  You know, how your legs feel once in a while while you are walking around the facility, really springy and light.  On the downside, it was really hot, so I decided to hold off till the sun went down.  We had dinner, and made plans to watch a movie.  Then I noticed the ceiling fan in a box.  We've been pecking away at the 2200 sf basement for 3 years now, and the fan is one of the last things.  My son picked up Green Hornet, and everyone sat down in the cool (in both senses of the word) basement to watch while I installed the fan.  Home improvement projects being what they are, I didn't finish with it until well after 11, so I pushed the run to this morning.  Weather said nighttime low would be around 63, so it would be nicer conditions in the morning anyway.

This morning it was 73 with a hot wind blowing out of the south.  I felt dry.  Ran to Smoot, got a drink.  Ran to Freedom Hills, got a drink.  Ran up and down the switchbacks, got a drink.  Ran home, got a drink.  Needed more drinks.  On the bright side, my foot feels fine.  My back feels most of the way better.  On the down side, I have a 5k that I won't be able to run very fast on Saturday.  I hope I can get under 20 min, but that might be a bit of a stretch.  I haven't spent a lot of time in the low 6's since...I don't remember when.  

June is almost over, and I'm falling behind on my 2000 mile goal for the year.  I'll be around 940 by the time the month rolls over.  It'll be okay, though, since more 31 day months are in the second half of the year. 

After watching Green Lantern (meh) with my wife, I came home to spend time with the little ones.  As it got dark, it cooled a bit, so I rigged up my running partners helmet with a headlamp and tail light, put a reflective vest on her, and we went out for a dark run.  She loved watching the street signs and license plates illuminate when she shined her light on them.  We ran several extra blocks here and there to try and find where the fireworks were being detonated, but had no luck.  Several "ghosts" appeared out of nowhere.  (people with no night-time safety gear)  I'm amazed how close you have to be to see someone in clothes.  It's a miracle people don't get run over more often.  I guess most peds stay out of the street.

In the cool, diminishing twilight, I left home with my son astride his trusty bike.  Parrish-legacy-pages-home.  I ran fast for the first two,  7:30 and 6:24.  After a drink, I took it easy the rest of the way home.  I ate a bug.

At 7:20 this morning, I ran to the race directors to drop off my registration for the 5k tomorrow.  I saved 45 cents.  I broke through an electric fence to come home on BST.  There were some old people and dogs up there.  I said, "Good morning."  Some of them said stuff back, and some of them ignored me.  All the dogs ignored me.

Race conditions were pretty good; no wind and somewhat cool.  The narrow street start had the usual congestion, but things were manageable after the first bend.   I didn't get out very fast, but I knew I'd overtake lots of the speedsters on the hill.  I passed around 20 people on Parrish.

Splits:  6:51 (start and the only hills), 6:23, 6:26 + whatever

This was all I had today; I was within a hair-width of puking over the line.   After the race I visited with Laputka for a while and tried out his clogs.  They seemed pretty good; I'll be ordering a few pair.  The winner came in at 15:40.  I can't believe a 20 min 5k put me in 9th in my age division.  I need to find a smaller race.  I also found out they are canceling the trail 10k, so that sucks.   

After spending the morning grouting tile, I left for a run.  It had been cloudy, and even raining a bit, so I figured it would be a reasonable temp.  Well, shortly after leaving, the sun came out in full force, so it was  hot one.  I took BST to Freedom Hills where I reloaded the water bottle.  I went by Ricks Creek, removed my shoes and pack, and lounged in the cool water, head to toe.  There were three girls doing a wedding dress photo shoot across the street; they probably thought I was pretty weird.  After the plunge, I felt much cooler for the remainder of the run.  My shorts were completely dry by the time I got home 2 miles later.  

It was getting late and I didn't want to put the girls to bed so...I ran to my sister's and back.  The pull up Mill Street was pretty good, and the tailwind and downhill on the way back were even better.  One nice thing about getting up the hill a little bit is there are fewer insects.  I didn't get started till 9:45 thinking it would be cooler.  I was mistaken.  

J, G, and A came on bikes to meet Grandma on Legacy.  We left around 8 p.m., and met her group (2 of my sisters) at Parrish Lane.  They wanted to ride the 1/2 marathon route.  It ended up quite an entourage; 6 people on bikes and me running.  It was hot and muggy and buggy.  The bugs would fly in my face and get stuck in the sweat.  Gross. We ran to Farmington Station.  I didn't know they had opened any stores, but now there's a Harmons at the end of the line.  I'll have to bring a few bucks next time for chocolate milk.  

While loping alongside my sister, we came up with the idea for a team race.  Pick your distance, but you, your partner and one bicycle have to cover it, switching whenever you want.  Obviously the runner would be the slow step, but it would be interesting to see how to optimize the fast running and switching to rest, etc.

I awoke around 5, and slept again till 6.  Got up for some oatmeal and left on the coolest temp run in weeks.  I ran to JP and did laps barefoot in the grass.  After a few, I ran down to the public park for a drink and lap, then back to JP to finish, then home.  It felt strange to have shoes on after 6 miles of barefoot.  I don't have any insightful analysis.

On a separate note, I got one guy to flip me off while driving to work.  It made my day. 

Fixing sprinklers all day, including running back and forth from valves to heads to valves to heads etc....I'm sure I had more than one measly mile, but it seems like cheating to count up.    So I missed out on a good run this morning, but will make up for it with a vengeance in the morning.  6 miles of barefoot was too many; my left foot was sore early today.  Oddly, it feels fine now, so hopefully it'll hold together for the morning.

After two 10 minute snoozes, I got up for oatmeal, and headed for the BST.  I took the usual way, but went higher after Ford Canyon to the high Farmington houses.  I saw a couple old guys walking up there, and they seemed as pleased to be up on a Sunday morning as me.  I went to the creek, and soaked my powerade for a while while I stretched.  The drink did get cooler.  After turning around and stopping climbing all over the place, I got some okay pace miles in; around 7:50 pace for the last 6 miles.  The first ones were 10-11, climbing 1800'.  I need to quit reading articles that say you can't go too slow.  This run felt too slow, but I was pretty sluggish from yesterday.

After a grandkids picture at my ancestral home, I ran up to the mouth of Mueller Canyon, back down, over to Vineyard, down to 13th, over to northern hills to North Davis Blvd and home.  The first mile was windy and rainy, the rest of the run was windy, muggy and hot.  It was a good shakedown for my tired legs.  I hope it's rainy with a tailwind for the 1/2 on Friday night.  The lit temple looked amazing against the dark, brooding sky at sunset.  It's not often you see a rainbow and sunset at the same time.

Slow, slow, slow miles.  Ash came with, so it was a real treat.  She was "tired" and didn't do a very good job of keeping up, so we languished along for nearly an hour. Besides finding a dollar in the gutter, she got a donut, so she was really happy with the run.  I got to listen to her silly prattle for an hour, so I was really happy with the run.  Afterwards, I picked raspberries for an hour, and didn't make it to work until 10.  Ahh, July.

My son dropped me off at Deuel Creek. I ran BST to Freedom Hills and came home.  I ran too fast for a nice easy run the night before a race, but couldn't hold back for some reason.

This race way pretty okay.  3 sisters, my mom and bro-in-law ran it as well.  My mom and one sister won their age divisions.  I could only muster a 3rd place finish.  I ran the first 4-5 miles pretty easy with my sister.  By then she had enough, and sent me on.  To make something out of this race, I wanted to try and speed up and run each mile quicker.  Although this was my mental intent, I didn't check my watch to verify I was actually accomplishing the goal, rather, I ran by feel, and gauged my effort on breathing.  Running at night takes away most visual cues, but I'm used to running this path in the dark, so it didn't slow me down.  

Awards afterward started 45 minutes too late, and were extremely tedious.  I didn't get home till after 2 am.  It was fun to run into my Van 1 teammates from WB, as well as complete this half with so many family members.  Overall, 1100 people entered all three of these races, so it was pretty well attended and a fun event.  It might play better in the fall when it's cooler and the calendar isn't quite so full.

Splits:  8:19, 7:49, 8:06, 7:49, 7:49 7:33, 7:14, 7:16 7:05, 7:15 7:11 7:30 6:34. I passed 8 people in the final mile.  I liked starting out slower and continually overtaking people over the whole race, rather than running in no man's land the whole time. 

We had an eventful day.  My wife is really knocked out with end of pg stuff; with her getting up every hour or so, I didn't sleep all that well.  She woke up around six nervous/panicked about not feeling the baby move, but he perked up and quit scaring us.  I went for a run, with both of them on my mind.  Things seemed relatively settled, so I went to work.  Come to find out later, daughter got hit by a car while biking to dance, but luckily, no harm done.  She had a walk light, while the oblivious lady in the van was running a red.  Furthermore, after a nap, another daughter woke up with a 103 temp.  So...now I'm home from work and gotta get dinner going.  I'm glad I got a run in this morning.

When the clouds got thick enough in the western sky to block the sun, me and my running partner left home.  We traveled 3 miles before her tire was flat.  Nice stranger #1 let us pump it up.  Instead of heading home, we foolishly continued our quest, and by mile 5.5, she was flat again.  Nice stranger #2 provided a pump and we made a beeline for Smoot Park where the boys were playing tennis.  I dropped of my partner and ran the final 2 miles without a buddy.  Between whining, being thirsty and having a sore butt from the bike seat,  (Dad, my butt hurts soooo bad!!  time passes   Dad, how much my butt was hurting before, well, it hurts even more now!!)  the first miles were quite slow.  The last couple were faster, but less entertaining.  

I need to sign up for a half or full to give my training some focus, but I'm hesitant until this baby shows up.  TOU?  Pocatello?  Definitely not Layton again.   

BST to Freedom Hills.  I added a trip up the switchbacks before heading home on Main.  There were a multiplicity of dragonflies this morning.  I also saw three other runners and several walkers enjoying the low 60's on the trail.

At 9:15 p.m. Jens set out on his bike with me to catch the fireworks up the hill.  3.85 miles up to find my family, watch a 35 minute fireworks display (awesome) and then run back down.  Between 800 S. and 500 S.  we passed 32 cars stopped up trying to get down the hill.  This may become an annual tradition, as long as I need to get in a run.

Jack was born at 3:18 p.m.  8 lbs 4 oz, 20.5 inches.  Tami did a fantastic job; they are both perfect.  What a day!!!

It was too warm to venture outside, but at least outside there is the possibility of a breeze.  I watched a good Law and Order.  

I spent a nice, cloudy day working in the yard with various kids.  The weeds have sure gotten away from me.  We left around sunset to pick up some binkies.  Ran a one mile warmup, then did a hard quarter followed by a recovery quarter x12.  Fast quarters ranged from 6:20 to 6:55.  I'll blame the slower ones on a stiff, south wind.  Obviously I've got some work to do.  There were lots of fireworks popping.  At the end we stopped at Wal-Mart and found some nice silicone binkies.  Hope they work.

Slow run with Ash after it was already sunny and warm.  We didn't get out until 8:30 or so.  We had a nice drink at the park, and she sicced the play dinosaur on my hand.  

Jack got a little fussy around 5:30.  I had the alarm set for an hour later, but figured I might as well let someone sleep a little longer.  I got him all swaddled, and put a towel around his head to give him some stability, and we set off.  He looked around with the hiccups for the first couple miles, then fell asleep.  The road is smoother than the sidewalk.  I got home and immediately my other running partner was mad at me because SHE wanted to go with Jack.  It was great to get out early in the day while it's cool.  Lots of walkers, bikers and runners were trying to see the baby.  

Ran 5.5 miles up City Creek Canyon with Russ.  2000' of climb.  I love this run.  I wish it wasn't a 15 minute add-on at the beginning and end to get there.  The slope is perfect both up and down.  9:06 overall pace, one faster mile coming down the hill.  It is raining/sprinkling outside as I type, so I think I'll be heading out now...as soon as I change this font.

It started afternoon and evening showering, so I changed and headed for the hills.  I kept the pace at 10 minutes for the first two climbing miles, then brought it on down on traverses.  Once I got to the flat road, I opened up for a couple quicker miles in the pouring rain.  It was awesome to be out; it would have been even better 5 degrees cooler.  I debated whether I should shower after the run, after all, I was completely soaked through.  Just for the record, I did clean up.  

At 6 a.m. it was 61 degrees.  I grabbed the bills and ran them to the post office, then came back to the soccer field for some wet grass barefoot running.  When I got home, Jack was awake.  He joined the world yesterday afternoon; he's alert, more responsive, and his behaviors seem more purposeful and less instinctive only.  Be assured, I hate being at work instead of home going googley-eyed over that boy.

9:36, 9:32, 8:33, 9:05, 9:11 7:05, 7:51, 7:54.  BST to Freedom Hills and home again.  I caught the tail end of the most fantastic sunset.  Having those two first two miles under 10 is a rare feat, if not the first time.  I've often had one or the other under 10, but rarely both.  

I got a bit excited about the thought of running a marathon with no garmin...perhaps TOU.  I think I let that device dictate pace instead of my body.  Also, absent the proof the watch provides, I might be able to more effectively lie to myself and achieve a better result.  On the other hand, I may be able to more effectively lie to myself and run much more slowly.  These were my thoughts on the trail.  When I got down to the road,  I counted my steps for a mile.  This was boring.  While running a 7:05 mile on rollers, I took 1280, +/- 2 steps.   

I read about this little race in the Clipper, and went with Spencer to check it out.  There were about 40 participants, 10 of which were kids.  My daughter said she'd run, but when I woke her up she said she'd been coughing all night, so she bailed.  I ran a couple miles around home, then drove to FH.  The course was out and back, up a hill then back down.  7:50 (the hill was a pretty good pull), 6:50 and 5:50.  Garmin measured at 3.03.  I got $20 at Crown Burger and some hot cocoa. It was a lot of fun.  If all races were free, I'd race every weekend.  I love finding a race that is so small, even I can win.

The day dawned.  A couple hours later I left with Jack in the running stroller.  We went straight down a quiet Main Street, always looking for the smoothest pavement.  4 miles later, we turned around and came home.  Jack slept for miles 3-7.5.  The last 1/2 was kinda bumpy due to the tar they use to cover cracks.  We found several treasures along the way, including $0.41, a freshly killed raccoon, and a not so freshly squooshed snake.  The morning was cool; my thermostat had it at 59, but that's on the shady side of the house.  We arrived home just in time, as the sun was getting high enough to peek over the sides of the stroller and get in his face.  No run is perfect, but this one came pretty close, with the free money and all.

My daughter needed a lift home from Park City, so I went up there after work to buy some shoes and wait for her.  In the interim, I bought some running shorts, and spent an hour running around the roads and trails in the vicinity of the Canyons resort.  It was much cooler than the valley, so it was nice.  I tried out the crocs, and they are very comfortable to run in.   The left one slipped partway off one time.  For about 5 minutes my left toes felt funny, but by the end, everything was normal.  I feel no after-effects this morning.  The crocs are baby blue and cost $5.  That's quite a savings from the normal shoe purchase price.  

Also, I have completed my registration form for TOU.  I even wrote the check, but I haven't put it in the mail yet.  This weekend the price goes up $25.  I'm in...but still wobbling on the fence a little bit.  I looked at all the close marathons in the time frame, (Pocatello, Salmon, Layton) and TOU seems like the best choice.  My base is pretty good, but the long runs aren't there.  Other than Ragnar and one half marathon last month, I haven't "gone long" since March.  I guess I'll have to get up early Saturday and go for 17 or something.   

Despite waking up around 5, I didn't leave on this run until 7.  Jack was having a rough morning so I tended him for a while while mommy slept.  Once he went to sleep, I took off; this gave the oatmeal plenty of time to digest.  I ended up at the baseball complex doing laps around the "Century Mile", which is only .7.

On my way there, I got into some sodden grass, and my feet got all wet.  I'm not sure if the wet feet or the thin socks gave me some rubbing issues.  The crocs didn't rub in 7 miles on pavement with normal socks on Monday...I must monitor this situation closely.  After the run, I got home and did some chores.  I finally managed to get to work by 10:30.  I guess I'm pretty much an ideal employee.

In the evening, I ran to a customer's house to switch over sprinkler lines.  Jack came with.  The customer lives south, and it reminded me why I always run north.  The roads are so much busier in that direction.  I had to go up on the sidewalk, and trying to keep things smooth for the baby with all the cracks and curb cuts was inconvenient compared to running in the road.

It's strange how some part of my livelihood is contingent on somebody's inability to rotate a knob to the right and left a quarter of a turn.

The crocs made blisters on the pivot for the strap.  Dumb, dumb, dumb.  I don't think they'll matter in shoes, which I'll be wearing for a long run tomorrow. 

Long run #1.  This is the longest I've run since April.  Why do I want to add 9 more miles to this total?  I ran partway up and down City Creek, met up with Fiddy and Allie, then ran some cool down miles with them.  It was cool and nice with a breeze the first time up, but by the time I was running down the second time, all coolness disappeared, except for the residual glow of running with two of Utah's premier runners.

I hit my target for the day (16) and still had over a mile to get to the car.  I asked a cop if he'd give me a lift on the back of his motorcycle, but he declined courteously.  I walked for a while, then felt like a moron walking down a hill and ran the rest of the way.  Once I got out of memory grove, I found the stinkiest garbage can possible, and sat down next to it in the creek.  That felt great, but smelled bad.  A chocolate shake from Crown Burger was the final touch on this run.  Now I'm home, and I hope I'm too tired to do anything except take a nap or go waste money at stores.  I also have an 1800 calorie deficit to rectify.  Also, bathing might not be a bad idea.

My left tibia hurts 1/3 of the way up.  This is not a new thing, but after 16 miles it hurts more than normal.

Nice easy run with Ash on her bike.  It was a blue shirt day.  The last two times we've gone running, we ended up with the same color shirts, and then the other runners we've seen also had on the same color...so I've got her convinced that runners plan out what color shirts to wear, and everyone knows which color it is each day.  We stopped at her school to see her teacher; school starts next week, and she is very excited.

No pain in the tibia today, but I know it's lingering there right under the surface.  I need to get some of the miles in on the grass or trails just to soften things up.  Does anyone have recommendations on compression sleeves?  My legs are tiny... 

Jack was fussing around 5:30.  I thought milady could use a break so I got up, changed his pants, ate some oatmeal, swaddled him, pumped up the tire in the stroller, and headed out.  We ran on quiet, dark streets to Lund Ln and frontage, slowly, then returned home.  Best of all, we traveled in safety.  

He always stays awake for the first 2 miles, looking around.  By 2.5, he's asleep.  He's so small, I'm surprised how much I slow down, but I guess being careful to find the less bumpy way cuts the pace.  Ugh.  Someone just turned on the creepy music in his swing.  I better go fix that...  

I started around 8 p.m. on the soccer field.  I want to baby my legs a little bit during this ramp up.  For some reason I got it into my head I needed to run faster.  I blame Trap, for posting all his super-fast splits.  So the idea was 2 miles "fast" then 2 recovery then 2 "fast and 1 cooldown.  Running .53 mile loops around a soccer field is kinda boring, but not at this time of the evening.  Enough clouds had rolled in that the sky was an ever-changing tapestry of color while the sun sunk low and finally set.  I brought an iPod and some water, which also helped, as did occasional sprays by the huge sprinklers.  There was also a nice pile of crushed ice someone dumped from their cooler that I used to my advantage.  I had a massage earlier in the day, so my whole body felt weird and relaxed.  7:10, 7:00, 8:04, 7:26, 6:49, 6:41, 8:06.  7:20 overall pace.

Tonight I did a mile with my 5 year old so she could practice riding her bike to school.  After I got her home, NEGAJ all came on bikes and in the stroller.  The road to legacy was closed, so we ended up in the bike lane to the baseball complex.  It was dark and slow, which was just what I needed.  I beat myself up a little bit yesterday between the hard workout and massage.  Nothing feels right today.  An off day tomorrow should help, if I don't get carried away with 2nd job yard work.

I've been looking ahead to this run for months.  It's been rattling in my head for quite a while, and today I finally undertook the challenge.  I started at the B, and ran up Skyline Drive for 9.3 miles, turned around and came back to my car.  

If I had to pick a single word to describe this route, it's RELENTLESS.  Most runs present varied terrain with ups and downs of varying grades for recovery.  Until mile 9 there wasn't a discernible break in the climb.  For most of it, I only held out for a couple songs before walking and drinking.  The road is dirt, and despite it being quite early, rednecks were in a hurry to get to some convention up at the top of the mountain.  The run was very reminicent of Avon Pass, with billowing clouds of dust.  

I hoped it would be 10 degrees cooler, but for the first time this week, temps didn't drop much overnight.  I needed all 2.5 liters of water I carried, plus one Gu and some caffeine gum.  By the time I reached my turnaround mile, I had climbed to 8400'.  Between the heat, grade, altitude and views, I was feeling pretty heady.   Coming back down was a pleasure for the first 5 miles.  Then the run began to catch up to me.  I hit 18 in a switchback with the "headwaters" of Stone Creek passing under the road.  I went right in and soaked for 10-15 minutes.  Ice baths aren't that bad when they don't involve ice.  

This run was beyond anything I could write about it.  There's something about the high places.   I can't wait to run this in the fall after a bit of rain has knocked down the dirt.  Also, I want to drive up, and enjoy the traverse miles over to Francis peak and Farmington Canyon without all the climbing.  I could really break myself against this mountain. :)  3000+' of climb  http://connect.garmin.com/activity/108114357

Starting at 6 with a very awake baby in the stroller and a talkative 7 year old on her bike, we made our way to Freedom Hills Park.  She played on the stuff while I added enough laps around the path to hit 8 miles.  We got home just in time to get her turned around and out the door for the first day of school.  She only needed to turn her shirt inside out, eat more food and get her hair properly configured.  My hips feel okay/funny from Saturday, which is lots better than bad/funny.

Sunset run to pitch black.  8 miles in 61 minutes, so not overly slow.  The first 4 were in crocs, the last 4 barefoot, all on the grass.  I liked the laps around the soccer field, and took advantage of the spray from sprinklers each circuit.  I had zero encounters with cars, and only one rabid stray dog.  I would have kicked it, but by the time he showed up, I was barefoot.  Instead, we warily eyed each other.  Shasta barked at me; I refrained from barking back.  I spent the day rueing that I hadn't run in the cool morning, but after this run my regrets evaporated, like the sprinkler water out of my shorts.  Holy crap, this is turning into an english assignment.

Jack was eating around 5 a.m.  Upon finishing, he was wide awake, so we went for a run so Tami could sleep.  It was 75 degrees.  We ran 8 miles.  That's about it.  I have a double today since I wimped out last night after helping Max finish his Eagle project.  He's only 17.3 years old, so not quite at the last minute.

P.M.  5 on the treadmill with "24" 3-3.  It was hot outside, and probably barely less hot inside.  I'm going to have a late night writing a story for my daughter's homework.

I met Tara and ran from the start of Firebreak Road to Farmington Canyon, then home.  The company was great, the temperature was too warm.  I'm thinking about cadence now.  My son has a schoolmate named Cadence, and I always wonder about those parents.  

This week I'm supposed to do four 8's and a 20+.  I didn't get out this morning, (should have) so is anybody interested in an evening run?  I'd also like to go to Great Basin National Park.  It's been a while since I climbed Wheeler Peak and felt reverent by the Bristlecones.    That would put my 20 in Baker, NV.  Ah, the possibilities.