Speed only kills if you don't have it!

We tried to crash at the next major exchange on the gravel and pavement, but didn't get much sleep. I was still coughing a lot and that didn't help my sleep. I was able to stay hydrated though because I was drinking so much water. Van 2 did a great job on their legs other than the phone/potty break, and had gained another 2 minutes on the running store.

Our van ran awesome on the second legs and we had some funny experiences from them. Mostly of the funny things took place because of everyone losing their foot-long sub along the way. Logan had a killer second leg where he averaged 4:55 per mile and put another 4:30 on his guy form the running store.

I started my run at about 3:35am and uphill I went for over 4 miles. I climbed around 600 feet in this leg. The climb wasn't that bad when I didn't have a killer head wind. The first mile was 6:36 and I passed my first and only runner of the whole relay. After a mile I turned right, into a headwind, and everyone I passed from then on was walking. Mile two was a killer 7:20. Mile 3 was better because I turned out of the wind half way and picked it back up to 6:46. The next mile came and went in 6:10 (pushing hard to be done). This leg was supposed to be 3.9, and when I hit 4 I began to worry that I had missed a turn or something. But I think what happened in th exchange was moved back 3/10s of a mile because everything was right on with the map except the first mile or so. I finished the last .25 in 1:08 (pretty much a sprint at this point). I dropped the ball a little in this one running 28:11 for the 4.25 miles, 6:45 ave., when I was supposed to average 6:34 pace. I hacked my head off again for 20 minutes when I got done. We waited to see how far back the running store was and they finally made it in 18 minutes back. By then we knew Adam had already made his exchange and we were a whole exchange ahead, so we never worried about them after that.

The hard stuff was done and I only had a very short 2 mile leg left, for which I was very grateful because I was feeling pretty sick. The key to relay success is learning how to eat and sleep at random times, something I am getting better at. The problem with being sick was I could do neither because of stomach problems and coughing. I knew no matter how sick I was I could go two miles. I didn't get any food or sleep between my last two legs. The other van had short legs so we were on quick again. Everyone ran great again and was glad to be done. At the beginning of Clyde's last leg we caught the final team and from then on we were on our own.

My last leg was at 8:29am. Walter came in looking great and I was excited to run a short leg, especially since I had bad stomach craps before I started. I had heard that this leg might even be shorter than 2 miles so I hung on. The first mile was very rolling and I was in pain (5:59). The last mile got a little easier and I pushed hard know I would soon be done. The 2nd mile beeped on the Garmin right at the hand off with Adam (5:27). I was done, yes! I have never been in the first van so it was nice to leave to the other guys for a change. I hacked and hacked when I finished and almost puked too. It was all good though because I had done my job being sicker that a dog. My average was 5:43 per mile, only 5 seconds off my goal pace of 5:38.

 (Fastwitch -65 miles)

We headed over to the finish line and waited for the 2nd van to get done. There wasn't anyone there when we arrived so everyone thought we were volunteers. The beers guys ever asked us all to help them set up the beer tent and kegerator. We sat around and laughed at some of our adventures until the other team called to say Ashbaker was on his way. The finish line was empty and Tanner and Dan had to hurry and find their equipment so they could announce our finish. We all ran in together, as follows tradition. Our final time was 17:04:37, a course record by almost 2 hours!

We went over to James and Lybi's home and they fed our tired and worn bodies. That was extremely nice of them. After a quick shower we decided to head out. We drove to Flagstaff and got a room. We ate IHOP and had a Fudrucker's experience similar to last year, for those who know what I am talking about. If our waitress wouldn't have been a nutcase herself, we probably would have gotten arrested. Good good times! We did what we went to Del Sol to d and had a great time doing it.

Easy run with some of my kids. I would have went further but I was coughing so much that I got got sick to my stomach and almost threw up several times.

 (Adrenaline-545 miles)

I am bummed about this flu thing that I can't get rid of.  It knocked me out of the Salt Lake Track Club15k, made Del Sol super miserable (I about killed myself) and could knock me clean out of Moab.  I haven't even really run at all this week and am not sure what to do about Saturday?  I guess I could still go for the half and just run a lot slower, or try to sneak into the 5 miler at the last minute, or give my number to someone else?  Any suggestions would be nice.  

On top of everything today I turned 29 and I have been miserable all day.  I was hoping for a good couple of runs today, but with hardly any sleep and feeling this sick it isn't going to happen. 

I had a terrible night after I threw up twice. My day was even worse today, because I felt like absolute crap. I did start feeling a little better after school and ran with some of my slower kids on a 4 mile run. I coughed a lot and felt really bad at first, but I feel better now than I have in a couple of days. I am hoping I am on the upswing finally after two and a half weeks of misery. I am still not sure if a trip to Moab is a good idea or not. I would like to think I could still run the half with Josse or Brent, but right now I would be lucky to even make it that fast in the five miler. I think I will get some rest, try an easy run in the morning, and see if we are even going down.

(Omni- 365 miles)

I am not going down to Moab at all because I feel like death!  I am bummed about not going down, but I feel it is best to stay home for this one. Maybe next year I can get a good shot at Moab.  Good luck to everyone down there!  I will eventually get better, be immune to these mutated infections, and make a comeback with running.  Thanks to everyone for the encouraging comments I appreciate the support.  

I am finally feeling a little better, but I still have a long way to go before I can say I feel decent.  I hope to be running again in the next couple of days.  I was wishing I was well enough to run today with the beautiful weather!

I feel tons better today and feel like I have about 80% of my strength back. I still have a pretty good cough, but it seems to be mellowing out too. I hope to run an easy run with my kids tomorrow.

I finally got out on a run today. 4 easy miles with my varsity boys with 6x100 strides at the end. I hacked a lot but it felt good to run again. Hopefully things continue to get better and I can come back quickly.

(Kahana- 161 miles)

Our track meet got canceled yesterday and today so I got to sleep in and go on a run.  I went out on a loop on the Loan Peak and Alpine highways.  It was cold but at first but got a little nicer as I went.  I coughed quite a bit and that made things more miserable.  I felt weak and sluggish like I have been sick for a month and hadn't run in 5 months.  It was a rough run and I felt lucky to average under 7:30 pace, because it felt like 10 minute pace most of the time.  Hopefully my body will continue to heal itself over the weekend and I can get back into it slowly.  I am going to try to hit 40 miles next week.  1:07:14

(Omni- 374 miles)

Five very easy miles with my girls. We ran along a canal west of the High School. The pace was 8:30 overall. I did two miles of that on my own at 7:00 pace. I feel way better today. I am feeling stronger, can eat more, and my cough in minimal, finally!.

(Kahana- 166 miles) 

I didn't run with my track kids because I had them doing intervals today and I am not ready for anything close to that yet.  I went out this evening when I got home instead.  It was beautiful other than a fairly strong south wind.  I did the Loan Peak Alpine loop and felt pretty crappy and sluggish the whole way.  I had my cough come back a little today and I hacked a lot during my run, which made me tighten up even more.  I feel like I have totally lost any rhythm that I had in the last couple of weeks.  Hopefully I can come back quickly and feel good again in a week or so.  I would really like to be able to start running some workouts with my kids in the next two weeks.  57:31 (7:12 ave.)

(Adrenaline-559 miles)

AM- I had a horrible run this morning! I felt weak and tired, plus I could shake stomach cramps the whole run, and I was even trying to go slow today. I was glad to get this one in the books. My cough was better today. 7 miles 53:41

PM- A much better run this evening, mostly because I didn't have any stomach issues. I still felt tired and sluggish, but I will probably feel like that for a week or two just from trying to get back into things. I got an hour nap and then I ran into Highland to the Highland Classic church and back. It was very nice weather this time and I enjoyed the run much more. 5miles 35:38

(Omni- 386 miles)

I was going to run with Josse but she and her son are sick today.  I went out late morning on a loop through west AF (100 W) and into Highland (60000 W), past all of the parks and onto the Alpine hwy.  It was a nice little loop.  There was a pretty tough North wind blowing so I was a lot slower heading out, and got blown home on the way back.  Nice day!  Legs were tired but I felt a lot better than the last few times.  I still am way out of rhythm and get tight easy, but that should come back to me soon.  51:42  (7:23 ave.)

(Adrenaline-566 miles)

We stayed in Willard last night with my in-laws so I wanted to take full advantage of the trip and head to Logan to run with Paul and Jon, and Logan was going to be in town as well. I slept until 7:00am and then headed to Logan. I forgot my track pants so I hoped that it wouldn't be too cold. It is usually about 30 degrees in AF that time of day and I thought that shorts might be ok, I was wrong! It was about 24 degrees when I got to Paul's house, so I had to tough it out. Next time I will be more prepared.

It was great to see the guys again and be able to go on a nice easy conversational run with them. I miss Logan sometimes even though AF has been good to us so far. I for sure miss running with my friends, it makes a run go by so fast.

We did a loop from Paul's house into Providence, up the big hill, and along some of TOU course, one of my favorite runs. We dropped Jon off when we went by his place and went a couple more miles back to Paul's house. We boxed Logan in most of the way to keep him from running too fast, and to give Jon some practice for the Striders half so that he can beat all of those Striders guys! ;) We ran 8.98 miles, but since I follow the example of Paul I had to round it to 9 miles even!

After the run Logan, Paul, and I stood around and froze while we talked more running, go figure! It was a nice run for me and I felt fine for the first time in a month, maybe because of the company.  I also hit my goal of 40 miles for a comeback week.  Next week I will try to go 45-50 miles.

(Omni- 395 miles)

Happy Easter to everyone!

I had the day off of school so I took full advantage of the time.  I slept in until 8:00am and made Jaren some breakfast while Allison went to the gym.  I went running when she got back about 10:00am.  It was nice weather so I was in shorts and a long sleeve shirt.  Spring finally!.

I did a loop that I have never done before and was tougher than I expected.  I ran up by the Temple and kept going east into PG.  I turned north on 9000 W. and headed toward Cedar Hills.  The road went through a bunch of big farms and huge houses, but no big farm dogs luckily.  The road took me right up to the Cedar Hills post office and canyon road.  I continued the long climb toward the canyon.  When I hit AF canyon I finally got some relief from the six miles of uphill.  I found a nice paved trail, that I had no idea even existed, and followed it by a flood hollow and through a couple of golf courses until it came out close to Loan Peak High.  I took the Loan Peak hwy all the way into AF to 200 N. and headed home from there.  It was so warm that I could have used a short sleeve shirt instead of the long. 

It was a great run for me event hough it wiped me out.  I did cough some but I also got up a lot of junk from it.  I focused a lot on form, relaxing, and getting back into a running rhythm, all of which I have been struggling.  It is like what Paul said the other day about how you can really tell your fitness when you go uphill or into the wind, I could really feel my lack of fitness in that first 6 miles with that long uphill.  1:18:02 (7:05 ave.)

(Kayano- 16 miles)

Easy 5.5 miles with two of my guys (Trevor and Garrett). We did some strides afterward on the grass. We started with everyone but we were going faster so we lost most of the others, not that we were going that fast! Beautiful afternoon for running or being outside. We have our first meet tomorrow so it will be interesting to see how some of my kids perform. I felt better and worked more junk out of my body today. 7:25 pace for the run.

(Adrenaline-572 miles)

5:00 am-  Easy run up 55 North in AF toward PG and back.  I overdressed, and barely made it home to go potty.  We had a home track meet today so no other run.  7:34 pace

(Omni- 400 miles)

5:00am-  Cool morning run in the upper 20s.  I did an easy 6 miles up into Highland and back along 200 East and Alpine highway.  I felt good today and just cruised along on the dark cold roads. 
43:02 (7:11 ave.)

(Adrenaline-578 miles)

We were supposed to be at the Box Elder Invitational today but the meet got canceled.  So instead I met my kids at the Riverton swimming pool for a Saturday morning long run.  It was cold and windy, with a North wind so that is the way we headed first. I aways like to do the hard stuff first.  I took the varsity boys with me and the other kids went shorter, like 50 minutes.  We ran on the Jordan River Parkway until the trail ended.   Then we turned East and went up a big dirt hill which put us on 11400 South.  We headed all the way up to Alta High, did a lap on their new track and headed back the same way.  We lost some guys along the way because they turned back, but I had five guys go the whole 11 miles.  In the last mile I saw a runner coming toward us at a good pace, I could tell he was pretty good.  As we passed, and after he called my name out, I realized it was Chad.  I stopped and talked to him for a minute or so.  I was surprised to see him on the other end of the valley and didn't quite catch what he was doing in Riverton, but it was good to see him.  Overall it was a good and fun run with my guys.  My average pace was 7:10 with some good hills and wind, it felt good!

(Kayano- 27 miles)

I did a few intervals with some of my guys this afternoon. I could tell I hadn't done much in a while once I got going. I skipped the 1200s I had them do, as to not overdo it, and did a 200, 400, 800, 800, 400, and 200. :33, 1:17, 2:45, 2:38, 1:11, :33. I might do some light track workouts once in a while until I get going again.

(Omni- 406 miles)