It ain't Chinese algebra!

Decent run this morning in great spring weather--42 degrees. I ran the Cedar Knoll Loop, plus a little on the Kanarraville frontage road for 13 miles, finishing at the college track. Slight knee pain (right knee) just before 4 miles, but then nothing after that. I got a little carried away with spring fever and thought I'd try some barefoot jogging on the football field, but was only able to do 800m before my feet were numb. I guess the snow in the corner of the field should have given me a clue that it's still a little cold out. Another 800 meters to my house and now work for the rest of the day. This was my last "short" long run for 7 weeks, then I'll start to taper for Lincoln. I'm getting pumped, especially after last Saturday's workout.

Total Time: 1:20:57

Pace: 6:13

Mile 1 was 6:38, miles 2-13 none slower than 6:18

Rotterdam(102)

Bike 3 miles

Felt okay this morning. Was going to go 10, but my left leg didn't feel great. In fact, it hurt from mile 2 until I stopped. The area below my calf and above my achilles. I've never felt pain there before, so we'll see. It seemed to hurt worse on the downhills, even the minor declines. I swear, it seems like every entry I'm listing some body part that's not good. Hopefully it's nothing.....

Pace: 6:45

Red (210)

Bike 5 miles

Swimming this morning. I forgot my watch, so who knows on the "pace." I went 50 laps today, a new high for me. Within the 4 weeks, I'm going to go 1 mile. Won't that be fun........?

Chiropractor this afternoon with Dr. Workman. Thought I'd give him a try after I learned that's where Houle sends his runners. He did the same adjustments as Romney, but spent much more time explaining things and giving me some stretches to do. I'll go back to him for sure.

Swimming this morning. Left leg still doesn't feel ready to run.

• 10 laps in 13:05, running
• 10 laps in 12:17, running
• 20 laps breaststroke and freestyle, no watch
  

Swimming.  It's starting to get old.

• 40 laps.  38 I swam with a mix of freestyle, breaststroke, and even a little sidestroke.
• 10 laps, ran in 4-5 ft. water.  My leg felt okay, but not great.

Swimming yet again. I'm bored with swimming....good thing it's the weekend. So I set a pr of sorts--I swam 1 full mile. It took me 1:01:51, so clearly I'm not fast (and my form is horrible, but that's a whole other story), so as of now, I don't see the Ironman in my future. I'm counting todays workout on the mileage board. If I play my cards right, I may hit double digits this week. Sweet!

Bike 2 miles 

Army this weekend, but I finished early, so I thought I'd try to run a bit.  Problem was, I didn't have any running shoes/gear.  So I went to a park and ran around barefoot on the grass for 1 mile (?) to test out the leg.  Result: good.  I think my leg is close to 100%.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed....  Best of all--I hit 10 miles for the week.  Talk about quality marathon training!

Time: 10 minutes

Pace: 10 minutes

Barefeet (1)

Tested the leg today and the result was positive. It actually felt pretty good, although I went very slow and didn't push things at all. To keep the route flat, I ran north past the armory 3 miles and averaged 6:59/mile, then came directly back and averaged 6:50/mile. So with the 27 second negative split, I guess you could say I "dropped the hammer" the last 3 miles. Spring weather, which was great.

Rotterdam (108)

Bike 7 miles

What in the...? For the first time since my freshmen year in college, I ran twice in one day and I have to say, it wasn't too bad. I hated it back in the day, but not so much today. Anyway, the reason -- daylight savings. My body still hasn't adjusted and I can't seem to get out of bed the past two mornings. Thus, I had limited time for a run this morning. I did 3 miles at 7:00/mile pace and my left leg felt fine.

Sinister (99)

Got done with class and it was such a nice day, I thought I'd run a few more miles before eating lunch. I ended up going 7 miles, nice and easy around town. The first 4 miles were 7:00/mile pace and the last 3 were around 6:40 pace. I finished at the college and ran 1 more mile barefoot on the grass. It felt great to run barefoot and for sure will work that into my weeks as it's starting to warm up.

Red(217)

I think I'll keep the next 3 days easy, then on Saturday I'll get back to my marathon training plan.

Bike 9 miles

Back in the pool this morning. Only had time for 30 laps, and I "ran" all of them. It wasn't enough, so hopefully I can make up for it with some miles on the bike today.

Bike 8 miles 

5 easy miles @ 7:00/pace. Nothing special.

Red(215)

Pretty fun morning. I'm in Medford, Oregon for a week and found a run in Ashland this morning. I wanted to get more then 6 miles today, so I started running down the highway and got 7 miles under my belt before my dad and sister picked me up. I averaged 6:15 for the 8 mile "warm-up." We got to the start of the race with a few minutes to spare, so I ran 1 more mile nice and easy to get familiar with the first part of the course.

The race was......unreal. I've never ran a race that was so tough. These weren't hills--it was like running mini-alps. The first 2 miles were gradual uphill on a wood-chip trail with a stream on the right and a few bridge crossings. I didn't want to get off course, so I just tucked in behind the leader and we clipped along nicely. After 2 miles, we ran up 10-12 flights of stairs in some guys backyard, then continued roaming the hills above Ashland. We dropped down some, then immediatly started climbing again on some switchbacks similar to hiking Angels Landing in Zion NP. I stayed with the leader through 4.5 miles, then we began decending on some switchbacks and the leader took off like he was on rails. He was a straight-up mountain goat and he completely left me in the dust. The last 1.5 miles were straight downhill, with one section twice as steep as decending Veyo hill. Throughout the race, my whole mindset was just "don't roll an ankle or twist a knee! This is just for fun and for an Oregon experience." There were portions of the trail that if one took a step 6 inches to the left, you would fall into a river or 6 inches to the right and one would fall 30 feet straight down.  We had to wind around trees and jump over big logs. I was hitting 4:30's the last mile and couldn't close the gap on the leader.  Anyway, we left the roads and decended 3 flights of stairs, ran 20 meters on a wood-chip trail and crossed the finishline. My quads are killing me!!!!  Not sure of my offical time--I'll post it when the results are posted online.

Anyway, so 2nd place overall in a time of 36:26. The leader was 35:35, so he trounced me. But it's all good. Oregon runs are a whole different ballgame.  It's not about speed, but about endurance and who can survive the wild terrain.  I visited with the winner after we finished and he said he's never ran a "road" race.  All he's ever done was trail runs.  To me, that's strange, but if I lived here, I'd be all over these trails.  It was like running on a sponge or a mattress and it feels great on the legs/ankles.  I got 4 more miles in when I went back up the course and found my dad and sister and ran to the finishline with them.  Fun stuff!  I was shooting for 20 today, but 18 will have to do.  20 next week?  We'll see.  Now it's off to Brookings and the Oregon Coast....

Rotterdam (120)

Sinister (105)

Brookings, Oregon. Went for a run with Jason, down to the beach and along the harbor. We hit some hills, both up and down, and my legs didn't like it one bit. Hopefully I can loosen up some and get some good workouts in this week. It's always fun to run with Jason--he's going to do well in Boston.

Pace: 6:45

Rotterdam (125)

It rained all night long, as well as this morning, so everything was wet and there was a dense fog all over town. I ran 3 easy miles at 7:00/mile pace to Brookings-Harbour High School so I could run some repeats. The workout was 6x800m with a 200m jog between each and I was shooting for times somewhere between 2:20 - 2:22 pace. I wasn't close:

• 2:29
• 2:26
• 2:23
• 2:23
• 2:23
• 2:20

I should have done better, especially with the low elevation. I've been super-slack on getting to the track and doing some speed during the past few months. Hopefully with the few weeks I have remaining before Lincoln I can be more consistent and get my legs moving. I ran back to the beach house for an additional 3 miles.

Sinister (114)

Final run in Brookings, Oregon. I won't miss running here--the rain was pouring down and I was soaked in seconds. We were going to run 7:00/mile pace, but the rain wasn't fun so we picked it up some and ran 6:36/mile pace.

Rotterdam (129)

So last week I ran my first "double" in years, and this week I've ran 4 days in a row. What gives? Today is my last day in Medford, Oregon before heading back to Utah. I did a 2.5 mile warm up, then set out for a 10 mile tempo. I don't have my splits in front of me, but I was shooting for anything under 6:00. After I finished, I jogged for .5 mile to cool down. I could tell I was running at lower elevation.

Total Time: 55:58

Pace: 5:35

Sinister (127)

Bike 16 miles

Very happy with todays run, although I wasn't loving life when I first got out of bed. It was 3am when I climbed in bed after getting back from Oregon Thursday night (Friday morning) and my body was craving more sleep this morning. I forced myself out and got a few miles in before work. I ate half a banana 10 minutes before running 1 mile for a warm up and it was all I could do to hit 7:15, so I began to think that today was going to be rough. I stretched some and then began my workout. I ran north through Enoch for 3 miles, then back to the house for Gatorade @ 6, an extended loop around the college and back to the house for Gu and water @ 9, then Wal-Mart frontage road and back to finish off with 15 miles. My stomach handled the water and Gu just fine--just 4 more long runs to get used to drinking liquids and taking gel. My pace was very consistent today: Other than my 2 water stops, 12 of my miles were all within 4 seconds of each other (6:10-6:14 pace) and I had 6 miles with back-to-back exact times (3 straight 6:10's during 2, 3, & 4 and then 3 straight 6:07's during 11, 12, & 13). Last mile in 5:55 because the bathroom was calling my name!

Total Time: 1:33:00

Pace: 6:12

Red (231)

Turns out this is my highest mileage week since college. Every time I've gone over 40 miles/week, I've gotten injured soon thereafter, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Bike 3 miles

Awesome weather in Cedar!!! Today's plan was speed, so I didn't run until 11. I started with 6 easy miles, trying to find a track to run around. Practice was taking place at SUU so I jogged to CHS, but as I was lacing up my spikes, a PE class came out and took up the track. So back to SUU and by then the team was gone and I could finally get started. The workout was 5x1000 and my program calculated each at 3:00. I can't remember ever doing 1k repeats and that sounded much too fast, but I gave it a shot anyway.

• 3:04
• 3:01
• 3:01
• 3:00
• 2:59

I jogged 400m between each repeat and when I finished, I was very pleased with how things went. The 3:04 seemed too easy, so I guess my program knew better than I. Last week was my first speed work in ages and I struggled to hit my times, but now I'm wondering if it was the humidity that got me last week. It felt effortless to come through the 800 mark at 2:25. I guess I'd much rather run @ 6000ft and dry air? Anyway, 2 easy miles to cool down, plus 1 mile barefoot on the grass. Body is feeling pretty good.

White (10)

Bike 5 miles

42 laps in the swimming pool. Haven't been in a while, but I felt good. 45 minutes total.

I really struggled this morning to get anything going. Not sure why? I didn't swim for a week while in Oregon, so I'm guessing I was a little tired from yesterdays swimming. Anyway, I started with 3 easy miles, then just stood there, not wanting to start a tempo workout. Not only was I lacking in energy, but I wasn't into it mentally either. Anyway, after 10 minutes of delayed stretching, I finally started. I ran the hotel frontage road out 2 miles, back 2 miles, then under the freeway and past the movie theater. I finished the 5 mile tempo and did 2 more easy miles, then called it a day. I'm tired.

Total Tempo Time: 28:04

Pace: 5:36

Sinister(137)

Bike 5 miles

Another good workout at the swimming pool. 46 laps in roughly 45 minutes.

Bike 5 miles

Ran 2 easy miles this morning. I forgot my gloves and had to call it quits when I couldn't feel my hands/fingers.

Y2(54)

Bike 2 miles

Amazing run this morning. I'm in Arizona for the weekend and I ran around Monument Valley as the sun rose behind the red cliffs. Very cool. My wife was following in the car and took some sweet pictures--I'll try and post them when we get back to Utah. Started with half of a bagel and banana 1 hour before running. It was a little windy this morning, so to avoid the wind head-on, I ran back and forth on a 3.5 mile strip of road. It got a little boring around 17 miles, but I survived the mental aspect of the run. It was basically 3 miles up-hill (1 very gradual, 2 &3 somewhat steep), then the opposite back down. I did 20 miles at a good pace, then did 1 more very slow mile to cool down. Gatorade @ 5, water @ 8, Gu @ 10, Gatorade @ 13, 16 and 18. No cramps--my gut is ready to race. Another week down....

Total Time: 2:02:07

Pace: 6:06

Red (252)

8 miles this morning, slow and easy. My right hip was killing me last night after the 5 hour drive home from the in-laws. I didn't sleep too great as a result, so I wasn't sure a run this morning would be wise. I ran north past the armory and into Enoch and it really loosened up my hip, so I'm glad I went. Pace was 7:20/mile, so very relaxing.

White (19)