A Runner at Heart.....Riding a Bike

It was 50 degrees and cloudy when I left.  Before I had even finished 1 mile it started to rain.  It was a fairly steady drizzle so it wasn't too bad until miles 9-12 when I was battling a headwind on the South Bannock Highway.  

When I made the turn at the 12 mile mark it got considerably better.  It was still raining, but now the wind was at my back.  Miles 13-16 I had a very strong pace as it was nice to not have the rain pelting my face and a tailwind.

It actually stopped raining for a while and did not start up until I had 1.5 miles to go.  I ran 23.14 wet miles.  The backs of my legs are a muddy mess.

It was 51 degrees this morning.  I ran 10.63 miles easy.

It was 54 degrees this morning.  I ran 12.58 miles.

It was 56 degrees and humid this morning.  It looks like it had just finished raining.  I ran 8.67 easy miles.

It was 55 degrees with some raindrops this morning, but nothing serious.  Today was the 2nd race of the Summer Fun run series.  The course is very hilly and has a 1.5 mile uphill finish....

I ran some warm-up miles at home before I drove over.  I did not have the time to run home after the race so I needed to drive.

I felt pretty good through the first 4 miles and I tested the groin pretty good, but struggled a little the last 2 miles with the uphill and did not want to push it too hard with Utah Valley next Saturday.

Overall, I had some good miles and hopefully I will be OK for Provo in 7 days.

It was 55 degrees with some rain this morning.  I ran 8.62 miles easy.

It was 50 degrees and sunny this morning, very nice.  I ran 8.52 miles with all but 2 at MP as a tune up for Saturday.  I hope the groin/hip holds up this time around.

It was 54 degrees this morning.  I ran 8.63 miles easy.

It was 52 degrees and breezy this morning.  I ran 6.57 miles easy.

AM:  It was 67 degrees this morning.  Definitely warmer than I am used to.  I ran 6.65 miles.  Long run tomorrow.

Let's just say it rained.....

I got to the start of a 5:30 race at 5:15 because the driver of the bus I was on did not know where he was going and missed the turn at the top and kept heading to Park City.  It was OK though because he wasn't the only one to do it and the race started 15 minutes late.  It started raining pretty good about 5 minutes before we started so we were all pretty wet.

I decided to start farther back in the pack so I wouldn't start out too fast.  I did not want a repeat of Ogden as I am still battling the same hip/groin issue.  I jumped in about 1 or so minutes after the gun and ran with the crowd.

My goal was originally to try for something between 3:15 and 3:20 depending on how the day went.

1.  7:14  Right where I wanted to be.

2.  6:57  Probably got a little carried away.

3.  7:09  Better pacing, starting to feel the pain already in the hip/groin area.

4.  7:10  Staying steady.

5.  7:08  Good.

6.  7:14  Starting to rain harder.

7.  7:52  Lots of uphill and rollers, injury hurting worse.

8.  7:59  More of the same

At this point it was decision time.  Do I stop and stretch like I did in Ogden or just soldier on?  Based on my runs the last 2 weeks, the stretching feels good but doesn't really help so my new goal was to see if I could just run the whole way without stopping no matter what the time ended up.

9.  7:17  We are back downhill again.

10.  7:29  Not too bad.  We passed last year's start line in this mile.

11.  7:45  This mile had a good portion of uphill again.  It hurt but I survived.

12.  7:28  A little better.

13.  7:36  Really raining again.  The tunnel was a nice break.

Half Split 1:37:30  I am 2 minutes behind Ogden pace, but I am determined to run a better 2nd half than I did 4 weeks ago.  I figure that if I hold a decent pace until the bottom of the canyon I will be in the 3:25 range when I slow down on the flat the last 6+ miles.

14.  7:38  I can live with this.

15.  7:53  Our last real uphill mile.

16.  7:30  Hips really not liking the downhill.

17.  7:27  Still OK.

18.  7:32  Worrying about how bad I will slow down on the flat.  I figure that if I run 8 flat through town I will be at 3:22.

19.  7:40  Last real downhill mile.

20.  7:33  I actually felt better as the course flattened out.

21.  7:31  Feeling pretty good.  Passing a lot of people now that the downhill is done.

22.  7:24  I am feeling really good now and reeling runners in like crazy.

23.  7:24  There was an uphill in this mile.....didn't seem to matter to me.

24.  7:23  Still cruising.  Hoping I can hold it.  I know I will be under 3:20 now.

25.  7:20  I can smell the finish line.

26.  7:30  Slowed by the overpass but still moving.

26.2  7:09  Tried to get it under 3:16.  Didn't quite make it.

I feel VERY GOOD about how strong I felt the last 7 miles on the flatter course.  I was able to push a better pace.  I am still not as fast as last year, but you have to train fast to run fast and I have not done that yet.  I feel VERY confident that I will be sub-3 by late summer-early fall.

It stopped raining when we got out of the canyon, so the last 6-7 miles were a bit drier.  When I took off my shoes back at the motel, however, my feet were wrinkled and pruny from how wet they were but at least blister-wise I am OK.

Still need to improve the injury issue, but I feel much better than I did after Ogden.

AM  No Run today.  Quads very stiff from downhill pounding yesterday.

PM  Chest & Back, Ab Ripper

My quads were still extremely tight from Saturday, so I decided to take it slow and work my way up on the treadmill this morning.  I started at a brisk walk pace and gradually worked up to running.  It took almost 2 miles for the legs to finally feel a little better.  The first mile felt really hard until I looked down and realized the t-mill was set on a 2% incline....DOH!

I ran 6 miles easy and the legs are a bit better.

PM:  Plyometrics

AM:  It was warm (61) and windy this morning.  I ran in a new pair of shoes this morning and I think I tied them too tight.  My left foot was getting hot and tight and I had to loosen the laces.  I ran 8.62 miles easy.  Last nights plyo workout really helped the quad tightness.  Much better today.

PM:  Shoulders/Arms, Ab Ripper

AM:  It was 52 degrees with some rain sprinkles here and there and some wind.  I ran 8.33 miles easy, 4 of it with Bob.

PM:  Yoga X, which I suck at :(

AM:  It was 39 degrees with a wind chill under 30 this morning.  Is it really June?  I tried running today with compression shorts on underneath to see if it would help with my issues lately.  It did seem to help and I was able to run 5 tempo miles without a ton of pain.  I still could feel it, but it was manageable.  I ran 8.62 miles total.  The Nirvana shoes feel great.

PM:  Legs & Back, Ab Ripper

AM:  It was 32 degrees and calm this morning.  It felt better than yesterday with the lighter winds.  I ran 8.56 miles easy.  Groin hurt more today than yesterday.

PM:  Kenpo X

AM:  It was 55 degrees this morning....beautiful!  I picked up Kory at 6:00am and we drove to the marathon course start.  We ran nice and easy down the course and I kept with him through 16 but I was getting a "hot spot" on my left foot.  Go figure?  I can run a marathon with completely wet feet last week and be fine and I get a nasty blister today?  I ended up running the last 5 miles on the side of the road as much as I could because it hurt a lot less. 

I ran 22.05 miles and it didn't get too hot until the last 5 miles, it was a great run.  Thanks Kory!

PM:  Chest & Shoulders, Ab Ripper

AM:  It was 48 degrees with light winds this morning.  I ran 12.56 miles easy.

AM:  Another nice morning.  I ran 10.59 miles easy.

I spent the rest of the day working in my daughters new house scraping walls, plastering, priming painting, etc.  Got home late and tired.

AM:  Easy 8.68 miles on a nice morning.

PM:  After work I helped move furniture and fix some other problems at Jenny's new house.  Got home late again.....tired.

AM:  It was 50 degrees this morning....very nice.  I ran 8.64 miles easy.

AM:  It was warm this morning....almost 70 and muggy.  I ran 6.65 miles easy.

This was supposed to be a race report, but it ended up a DNF report.  

I decided to run the Bone and Back 40 mile Ultra today.  I was doing well until that stupid groin issue I had in Ogden came back with a vengeance.

I was actually in first place overall at the 20-mile turnaround by about 20-30 seconds.  I passed the leader on an uphill at 18.5 and was feeling pretty good.  I stopped for a minute at the aid station and he just kept motoring on.  We had been doing this for several hours, I would stop each 5 miles and he would move ahead.  Then I would catch back up.

I started the 2nd half and the pain started getting worse.  I was still within striking distance of the leader at mile 25, when it got worse.  Even when I walked I was in pain.  I decided the better option would be to pull out of the race when I had an opportunity to make sure I did not make the injury worse. 

I made it 30.02 miles.

I need to see a doctor......this is ridiculous.

I finally got in to the doctor today.  I have been afraid to run the past few days because I was pretty sure I had a hernia and kept picturing myself running and then all of a sudden ending up in a heap on the side of the road because it strangulated and I passed out.

The doctor said it was not a regular hernia but he said it could be a "sports" hernia which is a bit different.  He has referred me to a sports medicine specialist and they are probably going to do what he called a dynamic CT scan so they could see what was going on.  

The best part of the appointment was the look on the doctors face when I told him I had to pull out of my race Saturday after ONLY 30 miles!!!  It was priceless!!!

He gave me the usual rest, ice, ibuprofen speech......as I expected.  The big worry is that I have been dealing with this off and on since last fall.  Rest has not made it go away so I think it might be the sports hernia, which is hard to diagnose and DOES require surgery.

It will probably be more time before I know....GRRR.