Run Run Run

Went up Mill Creek over to Big Cottonwood ridge, steep hike, ran lower part of trail

Ran again at Dimple Dell Indoor Track, ran three 1 miles each seperated by 0.2 miles walking. First nmile I got my best at 7:51, 2nd was 8:14 and 3rd was 8:24.

I have read different conflicting things in Runners World the last few months on running the 5K - one says run your first mile fastest, another says save your fastest to the last mile and another says to try to be consistent. I suppose its what works for you. What do others on the blog try to do/why?

Not sure what is more challenging getting up at 5:30am for work and then staying up to race at midnight or the reverse staying up late and getting up early for a race. I thought I was running good but was disappointed with my time as Im still in the 26 minute time range rut. It was nicer runnung in cooler temps. First mile is uphill and i was steady up it and glad to do it in the beginning, I improved in the downhill part and was stable in the more level part back to finish line. I was breathing heavy though, more heavy than normal for me for some reason, have a little sore throat now. The way I felt I was running I thought Id be in the 25 minutes, oh well maybe next time. The good news is I finally placed in my age group getting 2nd and given a red ribbon. Was 82nd of 276 overall. Improved a couple minutes from last years time

My son ran great, actually fantastic for 10 year old winning his age group in 20:28. He is really improving. Its a PR for him although I guess according to Bill Cobler, looks like the course may have been a little short, I think he said his Garmin said it was 3.06 instead. By the time they did awards and we got home it was 1:30am and for some reason I couldnt sleepm kept thinking of the run

Ran Big Water loop with son. Made an effort to try to keep up with him. First 2 miles was slower with steepness, last 4 miles nice grade, good trail condition, nice forest trail and good running temps which made route more enjoyable

Red Pine trail in Little Cottonwood

About 2000 foot elevation gain, ran about 4 miles of 7 mile trip, but I was challenging as too many rocks on trail to get a good ppace

Ran 2 miles around West Jordan Track while son had hurdles practice, was hot and only ran 9 minute miles

Two miles in Mill Creek in morning and then 3 miles around neighborhood. Hurt left ankle slightly. Got my long hair finally cut - that should reduce my 5K time about 5 minutes - ha

Ran a couple easy miles while at work on Skyline Drive above Farmington

Got to the race and realized I didnt have any money in my wallet. So I ran as a "bandit" which I guess some say isnt ethical but I didnt go through the finish timing line, nor did I take their water break or after race treats, so since it was a city park anyway, I guess I could run there too. Regardless it was 2 laps around Sugarhouse Park, I ran strong for me the first half, and so-so the second half. Temperatures and course were OK. Maybe I could have ran better, not sure if running as a bandit made me make less effort. Not sure of where I would have placed overall and in age group, as they only posted names and not times by time I left and havent seen anything on web yet. Would have liked to done (tried) the Provo River  1/2 marathon to see if I could run that far and for its scenary; but had to get Alexander at a 3 day scout camp

Ran 3 miles at West Jordan track while son had hurdle practice. Was very hot, so I didnt run fast, I tried but the sun zaps me so they were 10 minute miles

Then ran late at night with son on neighborhood course that had about 1/3 each of flat, uphill and downhill for 1 hour. Felt better running and ran faster. Not sure how far but since it was 60 minutes Ill count it as 6 miles although I think I ran farther than that

Have started a notebook on running for me on articles of interest I have saved on training, techniques etc. - still have a bunch of work to finish it. Also now have a library of running books and also running movies for me and my son

Ran 3 miles of the 6 mile hike in Lambs Canyon this morning and ran 3 miles in neighborhood tonight. Left ankle is bothering me

Ran 2 miles at West Jordan track while son had hurdling practice, one around 9:30 and other around 9 minutes, was hot again so didnt like it as much

Also tried the hurdles which I did but it gave the kids some laughs. Note to my running blog - 54 year olds probably shouldnt be doing hurdles!

Ran in Mill Creek up Great Western Trail to Ridge overlooking Canyons ski area with my Golden Retriever. Saw some moose again. Running was good except in short rutted rocky sections, temps better than valley but still warm

We are up in Washington State visiting my parents. We ran in a 5K in Bremerton Washington. We ran it last year too. Last year I was slow at 29:40 but this route is very hilly with steep up and downs, it is not a fast course. I felt good running, temps were wonderful only around 60 degrees. I was breathing deep but again I felt good running. The race starts out with a fairly steep hill. I always seem to start out abit stressed so this hill was hard until my body and mind settled down. After that it was much better although a couple short downhill sections were more steep than I desired and I had to "brake" more than usual. I passed more "roadkill" than usual and no one passed me after the first hill. I sped up in last 1/2 mile to ensure no one caught me. Its not a big race, maybe 100 runners. I forgot my watch and they didnt have a timer you could see and didnt post times at the site or on web yet (I will check next week). Im thinking I improved by around 3 minutes from last year. I know I finished 27th overall. Last year I didnt like the course, this year I at least thougtht it was challenging and enjoyable.My son continued to do Ok and won his age group and was 15th overall. They had some fast high school runners. You should have seen the trophy the 1st place runner got, it was about 4 feet tall.

After seeing some of the area, returned to my Moms. My son and I later ran another 5K - this was 3.1 miles my Dad measured on his odometer on a logging road behind their house in Montesano Washington. Feeling good running and with the nice cool weather we ran it around 28:30 which was very good for me considering I had already run a 5K race that day and I usually dont run after that. Besides Im home again and my Moms cooking is outstanding and Id add alot of weight without running (Im still her little boy who needs to eat I guess)

Ran the same 5K in the morning on the logging roads as the previous day around 28:45. The road is about 1/3 up, 1/3 down and 1/3 flat which I consider a good mix. For me I consider this a fast workout. Alexander ran it in less than 25 minutes. Then we ran an extra 1 mile at easy pace to cool down although it did have a very steep hill at the end.

Then went to the ocean later in day and did a couple easy miles on the Westport jetty as far as speed pace, but it was challenging in that it was mainly skipping and jumping on big boulders. Had to be somewhat careful of balance.

Then tonight we ran on logging roads again this evening at easy pace for 4 miles but went up a different route, It had one fairly long steep hill. While on top of the ridge there were some "nighthawks" flying above us making that hawk screech sound. I tried making some similiar sound and one of them divebombed me twice, the second time causing me to duck to the ground and being about 2 feet from my head. Lesson learned: be careful what you say to nighthawks in their or a similiar language. Whatever I said must have pissed him/her off for some reason

Most miles Ive done in a day - 13.5. OK - well I did it in 3 runs - but for me thats a start and a improvement. A future step will be to see if I can do that much in one run so I can see if I can do a 1/2 marathon (actually I know I can do one, but I want to feel I can do it like a runner, not someone just doing it if that makes sense. If I lived up here I know I would run more - I love the cooler temps, trees etc.

Started this morning running the logging roads from Montesano to Lake Slyvia, this was a 6 mile run, including a steep 1 mile hill as well as some shorter hills. We did it in 57 minutes. There was a rain drizzle most of the way and we got abit wet but we liked it and the rain didnt bother us. After that we had breakfast and then ran a fast training 5K for me - I did it in 28:19 which was good since I had already run 6 miles. Alex ran it in 24:05. Tonight I ran solo and slow but at least I ran, 4.5 miles in 50 minutes including 1 long steep hill. So Im pleased for pushing myself - I can finally say I ran alot of miles in one day

Ran our 5K again in the Montesano logging roads in about 28:15, Alexander gave me a 4 minute head start but still caught me and beat me in the last yards.

Then went to the Olympic National Park beaches and got another 3 miles in running

At Olympic National Park beaches. Got about 6 miles of running in including an awesome moonlight run along the wilderness beach listening to the waves, saw otter and bald eagles earlier

A couple more easy miles on the beach and then we went swimming in the cold refreshing Lake Quinault and got back to Moms and ran our 5K again on the logging roads

One mile on the beach and then did our 5K logging road route, all at slow pace

Race wasnt until 10AM so wasnt a rush to get to it, temps were nice, in the low 60's. It was a trail cross-country route through the Forest. I did OK but had trouble following the route as the white arrows marking route were faded and I run without my glasses. Got irritated with myself as I got very confused in one spot which made me run extra and loose time. I had passed all other runners slower than me and didnt see anyone in front of me since it was on trail, I must have run past an arrow or missed a turn. Oh well, it was still fun and I won my age group getting the blue ribbon although it was a small local race. There were quite a few high school runners doing it getting ready for their cross-country season. Anyway I enjoyed running through the trees, across the creek bridges and in the cooler temps.I ran back on the course after the race trying to figure out where I got confused, but all that did was confuse me more - oh well

So because I was irritated with my confusion, I decided to push myself for a long run. Actually I had planned on doing a run anyway, but I probably would have backed out since I had already run a race, but that helped me force myself. I ran a 10 mile loop, going up the logging roads to Lake Slyvia, through the state park, down to the town of Montesano and back up county roads to my parents home. I did it in 1 hour 38 minutes and 41 seconds so that was less than 10 minute miles and I consider it equivalent to more than 10 miles since it has some monster hills and is about 40% up, 40% down and 20% flat grades. This is the most I have run in a day (15 miles total) since about 40 years ago in high school. Having time off and cooler temps sure helps (Sasha probably would run 200 miles up here!). I also ran almost 60 miles this week, quite an accomplishment for me, but Monday Ill be back in Utah to the work grind, family duties and highere temps but maybe this can help me to continue some improvement

Back to the Utah heat and busy schedule. Ran at Alexanders cross-country practice. Hope to eventually do a longer race. Sometimes I get the impression that youre not a real runner until you do the 1/2 or full marathon; but I'll wait until Im ready. Ive given in and ordered a GPS forerunner - Im told this is guaranteed to take several minutes off my running time and I will now look like a real runner (or maybe it will just tell me Im running shorter distances and at slower speeds than I think I am running)

Had to go to work at 4am so didnt have alot of energy for running. Went to sons Provo series race and ran a couple miles after the race jogging slowly behind my son and the Leblows who were doing some after race warming

Am having trouble with my left hip and juggling a busy schedule this week. Need to find a way to get around that and follow guidance in Sashas list of mistakes runners make. Really need to make better effort on reducing stress, more and better sleep and eating better.

I dont want to be called a senior yet but I took today off and ran in the Provo Senior Games 5K - you can run if youre 50 or above. Race was on the Provo River Trail from BYU motion picture studio to some park by Geneva I think with little elevation gain. Weather was overcast but still warm for 7:30 @ 77 degrees. Its a nice race along river. There are several underpasses which go under the roads. They seemes to psych me out - they were probably 7 feet high, but Im tall (6-2) and running without my glasses, I would always slow down and duck running crouched under them. I probably could have ran normal under them but it kept looking like Id KO myself so I ducked. Going to have to get my left hip checked I guess, always sore from running but gets slow from sleeping on that side too. Anyway I got a silver medal and finished 5th overall - luckily I can beat those guys older than me! Saw Sasha running on the Provo River trail

I ran 24 of 31 days this month for about 132 miles, but alot of that came last week in Washington State with the cooler weather there. Hope to improve some more this fall as temps get better if my schedule can allow it