Speed only kills if you don't have it!

I haven't run for about a month, so I figured that it was about time.  I went out after work at about 6:30pm, it was very cold and dark, but I felt okay. I ran the 7th north hillcrest loop, and felt like I could have run a bit further.

19:15

I ran in the morning, probably about 0 degrees.  I went down (Boulevard) on the Island to the old house and back (dugway and Old Main stairs). It was cold and I didn't feel as good as last time out.  I looked like Frosty the Snowman when I got home.

31:56

Morning run, below 0 degrees!  I felt okay for upping it another mile.  I ran the canal trail, 1st dam, Hillcrest loop.  Last mile just under 7 minutes.  The trail had about two inches of snow on it, and I came home looking like Frosty again.  Pleased with my time,

36:18

I got up early and ran in the dark.  It was way cold -7.  I went down past the old house and up to the top of River Heights hill and back.  I went both there and back on boulevard insteead of coming home up dugway.  I also went up Old Main stairs.

39:59

Lifted arms at night

Lifted legs in the morning before lab.

I ran when it was a little lighter today, but still early.  I felt okay for only running for a week and decived to run farther.  I went on the River Heights, center street loop, up center street first, and up Old Main staris on the way home.  I was surprised that I didn't feel as bad as I thought I would, and that I ran as fast as i did.  Way cold again!

51:42 

Ran upto the HPER and lifted arms and ran back.

I went on the canal trail, 1st dam, Hillcrest loop, and ran the last mile in about 6:15.  ( 5miles)

35:38

I ran upto the gym played Basketball for one hour and ran back.

I signed up for Del Sol and the Striders winter circuit today, so we'll see if that motivates me.

I went on the River Heights-Center Street loop, and up Old Main stairs in the end.  It was cold and the air quality was terrible.  I went about 6:20 am in the dark.  I felt better this week.

51:40

Lifted arms at night at the HPER

Lifted legs in the morning before class.  In lab we did a 3 minute step test and a 1-mile walk test.  My predicted VO2 max was 4.2 L/min.

I went about 6:00 am, it had snowed sometime during the night, so the roads were slick an it was dark.  I went on my version of the Dynamic Fitness 4 miler.  I didn't feel too bad when I ran considering how sore I got from lifting yesterday.

29:31

I went early in the morning about 6:00am, and it was freezing like usual.  It started to snow the last couple of miles.  I went into River Heights, looped through the south end of Providence, came back on Boulevard, and finished with 800 North hill.  Felt okay, but was fairly tired at the end.

1:01:56

I went on a morning run, but it was a bit later because I didn't start clinicals yet, so I was actuallty in the light.  I was a little sore from yesterday, but even with that and the cold nasty wind I ran okay.  I did the canal trail, 1st dam, Hillcrest loop,and ran a little more carefully than normal because of the snow and ice.

35:49

I got up earlier than normal and ran the Providence hill loop.  I hadn't ran that run since before St. George last year, and forgot how nasty that hill is.  I felt okay, I think that the weekend rest helped me out.  Most of my run was in the dark, but it wsn't below 0 degrees like it has been.

1:09:58

I went to the HPER gym and lifed my upper body tonight.

Day off!  Wanted to lift my legs today, but ended up playing a couple games of Racquetball instead.

I needed to get a little bit of tempo in so I ran a bit later, which gave me more light but less time.  I did my version of the Dynamic Fitness 4 miler from home.  When I hit Hillcrest elementary I did tempo the rest of the way.  Man I am out of shape!  Although it was hard it felt good to be running that fast again.  I did the tempo portion of my run in 9:12, and the total time was 26:01. I felt good about my effort.

I ran early morning again today.  I decided it was time to run a 10 miler even though I am not in any kind of shape yet.   I went down Boulevard, though the Island, River Heights, Providence, and into Millville.  I went far enough to make sure I had plenty for a 10 miler and turned aroud and came back the exact same way until I hit 800 North and I finished with the hill.  I was pretty beat when I finished, but it is good to get the first one under my belt.  It was raining the whole run, and I was wearing my new shoes, so they are well broken in after going through all of the mud puddles.  I came back 5 sec. slower than what I went out in.  38:01 and 38:06

1:16:07

I did the HPER, Hillcrest,Cemetary loop with 6x100 meter strides this morning before school.  I felt tight at first but the strides loosened me up quite a bit.  I hope I feel okay tomorrow in the Striders 5k.

19:04

The Striders winter racing circuit started today with the 5k.  I got to the start in plenty of time to get my number, warm up for a mile and visit with Cody, Dan, and Russell Bennett for a few minutes.  The weather was perfect, and I was glad because these races aren't known for being on days with good weather.  Although it was nice, I still didn't think it was quite warm enough to strip down to my nothins, like a lot of people did.  

I didn't really know what the course was like until everyone started to talk about the 10% grades and that sort of stuff.  I wasn't too concerned because I wasn't going for the win today or even run a fast time, I just want to have fun and get back into shape for bigger and better things this year.  I was surprised by the amount of hot-shot runners that shhowed up today, it was one the most quality fields of runners that I have seen in in a 5k in the last 10 years. 

I took off pretty easy, not wanting to gas myself in the first mile.  I ran hard (for me right now), but still kept a steady, semi-comfortable pace.  I went through the first mile in 6:31 and knew that the next one would be a little slower.  It was (6:45), as the second mile had some pretty good climbs in it.  When the down hill came I felt alright so I just relaxed and let gravity do it's job.  I caught up with Dan with about .4 to go and told him to come with me, and he seemed to for the most part (he was only about five seconds back at the finish).  I cruised in and finished around 19:28.  I missed the 3 mile split, so my last 1.1 was 6:11.  I didn't have any one pass me the whole race, and I bet I caught about 25 people over the course.  It was fun being back where I shouldn't be and knowing it, and having those around me wondering why I would eventually fly by them. 

I was happy with my run, considering my conditioning.  I just wanted to run under 20 minutes, and I did that on a tougher course.  I was pleased with how all my Del Sol team (Dan, Cody, Sasha, and Paul) did today, I thought that everyone ran well.  I was especially impressed with Paul.  I know he is a modest guy who doesn't like the spotlight, but he kicked some serious asphalt today! ( I hope that is family friendly enough)

I ended up 7th in the age, 23rd overall, with a 19:28.5

I ran a mile warm-up and a mile cool down with my race for a total of 5.1 today.  31 miles for the week, one mile better than what I had scheduled.  35 is on my schedule for next week.

I also played a full court Basketball game this afternoon with two 20 minute halves (played the whole 40 min. myself), we won 70 to 55, and are now 8 and 1on the season.

For those of you who didn't get up at 5:45am and run on the dark streets of Logan, you won't know what I am talking about, and you definitly didn't miss out.   It had rained, snowed, and frozen last night, and every inch of roads and sidewalks were covered with black-ice.  It such a joke trying to run, and probably not worth my time. I needed my hockey skates on, not my running shoes! 

I went down Boulevard, into the island, through River Heights, and looped around Providence.  I came back the exact way I went out, because I didn't dare run up any kind of hills.  I spent more energy trying to not slip and fall than I actually did running.  I wish I could have run later on in the day because it ended up nice.  Slow time: 1:03:52

I lifted my upper body at the HPER tonight for an hour.

Lifted my legs pretty hard today. I didn't have time to run, and it is probably a thing because I was trashed after lifting.

I went early this morning on a Center street/River Heights loop and ended with the Old Main stairs.  It was very dark, and colder this mornig but at least the roads were clear.  I was pretty sore from lifting my legs yesterday but loosened up as I went.  I did the run easier because of soreness, but I still ran a fair time.  I pushed it a little on the Center Street hill.  I figure I need to hit some kind of good hill every time out so I don't die on the 10k and 10 miler course for the Striders circuit.  I am thinking that I might be pretty sore tomorrow from yesterday's workout and today's run.

50:40

This morning I went on a modified version of my out and back to Millville run, that I did last week.  I changed the part where I run up 200 west ( the highway) and stayed on 100 west until it ended before hedaing down to 200 west .  This was better because it has a bit steeper grade to it and there is no trafic, however, there are several loose dogs roaming around ( the one Dave has never been bitten by).  I also went on  the 800 North hilll on the way home, other than that it is pretty much "out and back" the same way.  I was feeling the soreness from lifting and running the last couple of days, in fact I think I was more sore today. 

 It was snowing my whole run except for the part where I got hailed on.  The snow wasn't  too bad though because it wasn't super wet, so the streets just had a light skiff on them, and I didn't get soaked.  I ran out slower out,  39:20 and came back a bit faster, 37:13.

Total time: 1:16:34

I felt a bit better today, I wasn't very sore any more.  I did another early run in the dark.  I went up 1000 North hill, then down and up 1200 East and turned it into a Lundstrom park 5 mile loop.  As I was running the dark streets of North Logan, on the corner of 1200 East and 1900 North (that heads upto Green Canyon), I ran head on into what I thought was my end.  It was pitch-black outside, and all I new is that the creature was bigger than I was by what I could pick out from the body outline and the position of the glowing eyes.  I was relieved when I realized that it was a four-point buck and not a massive cougar or something else that could eat me.  We about ran right into each other, and I scared him as bad as he scared me.  My heart rate probably went up 50 bpm after the startling.  I was able to maintain a good strong pace after my encounter and ended up with a good run and a good scare.

35:42

Tonight I ran to the Field house and played Basketball for over an hour, and ran home.

I was way tired and could hardley pull myself out of bed to run at 6:00 am today.  It has bean a long and hard week with everything, especially school.  I really would have liked to run with Jon, Paul, and Cody this afternoon, but since I had Basketball game at 11:00 am and we are trying to leave town to go see my family for the weekend, so I figured I had better get up and get things done. 

My left leg was sore and aching this morning and made me alter my stride a bit.  I don't know what is going on with it, because it hurt last night when I was climbing the rock wall at the Celebration center, and after when I ran upto the Field house to play Basketball.  I think that I am just getting old have have arthritis in my ankle or something! 

The run wasn't too bad even with the added discomfort.  I went down Boulevard, past the old house on the Island, and upto the bench at the top of River Heights.  I came back along Canyon road and the dug-way, and finished with the 800 North hill.

Time: 37:14

I felt fatigued today after a good hard week of training.  I reached my goal for mileage again this week (35).  I am finally feeling like I am getting in better shape after a whole month of running now.  I think adding 5 miles a week is working good for me, so I will do it again next week.  About 36.5 for the week, 40 miles are scheduled for next week.

We spent the weekend down in Mona and Provo with my family.  I was in Provo this morning and almost talked myself out of running because of the snow fall. We got dumped on pretty good.   I did finally get out late morning and felt pretty mediocre.  I think that my solid 36 miles last week wore on me worse than I thought it would. 

I ran a variation of a course that I used to run in Provo and Orem with the Sojourners called the "Grandview loop".  It loops though neighborhoods in Provo and Orem, onto the Provo river trail, up the hill (little Veyo) by the University mall and past Runner's Corner.  It was kind of fun to run that course, it was my first time in almost three years.  It used to be my bread and butter course!

1:01:30

I had Monday classes today because of the Holiday and it kind of messed my schedule up for the week.  I didn't lift this morning, so I decided to go on a run at about 7:00pm when we got back from Allison's soccer game.  It was dark and the traffic was a pain, but I felt alot better tonight.

I ran my Lundstrom Park 5 miler (no big killer deer this time).  It is a good little loop with some good up and down in it.  I felt good enough when I got to the last mile and a half or so that I decided to do some tempo.  I pushed the last stretch as much as I dared for the visibility that I had.  I am not sure how long my tempo was (between 1.5 and 1.6 miles for sure), I need to go clock it sometime.  9:19 for the tempo and 33:56 for the run.

This is the first time that I have done back to back runs.  I went out this morning at 6:00 am and did the Center St./River Heights loop with Old Main stairs at the end.  I like that run because it has a few good climbs, and I need all the climbing I can get for Striders circuit.  I felt okay, a little fatigued from last night, but better than Monday. 

 I had some dog follow me from RiverHeights clear until Old Main and then it wondered off after some college girls.  The stupid dog will probably end up in the pound before it makes it home.  I tried to ditch it, but it seemed to think I was it's friend even after some blows that would have ended any friendship.

50:31

I ran at 6:00am today. It was not quite as cold as it has been and toward the end of my run it got light.  I did the same Millville out and back as last week accept I turned off of 100 west in Providence and headed down to 200 west a block or two sooner.  I felt really heavy in my legs today and never really felt like I got in rhythm.  I did however, run a bit fast than last week  38:44 out and 36:33 back.
 Total run-1:15:18

Day off.  I was going to run a couple of miles and do some strides, but I am feeling a little beat up.  Played some Quadball at school.

I picked up Paul on the way down to Ogden.  It was nice to have someone to visit with on the drive down, I had my 17 month old son (Jaren) with me but he isn't much for conversation.  We dropped Jaren off in Willard with his Grandparents and made it the start of the race about 45 minutes early.  I did about a 2 mile warm-up with Paul, Cody, and Dan.  The weather was colder today than for the 5k, but still wasn't too bad for this time of year.  I stayed in my warm-ups until the race and then stripped down to tights, two shirts, and some gloves.  I didn't see anyone getting down to there signets.

Once again, there were a lot of hot-shots there for the money, so I didn't even worry too much about my place.  The course seemed tougher than the 5k and had a lot of up and down.  I didn't mind the hills, but there were a lot of small loops and very tight corners that I thought were completely unnecessary, not to mention they all had ice.  I thought they could have done a better job in mapping out a decent course with out loops and tight icy corners.  I had to slow down a lot in places and take really wide turns on corners, and on a well thought out course that would have never been the case.

I took it out pretty easy and worked my way into a decent pace.  I came up on a lot of people during the race, and the only person who passed me was Bob Henze and I caught him in the last 300 meters.  I felt okay today I never really pushed myself too hard, and probably should have because I didn’t go under 40 minutes like I wanted to.  I never paid much attention to my time after the first mile (6:55) and missed about every split.  If I would have been a bit more serious I could have at least shaved another 17 seconds off of my time.

I ended up 21^st over all and 8^th in the age, so I pretty much got blown out.  I’ll take it though for the amount of training time I have and the 5 weeks of total training that I’ve done.  40:16 total time.

I did about a 2 mile cool down.  I ended up with my mileage goal again this week.  I know that finding the time to run isn’t going to get any easier but hopefully the miles will.  45 miles scheduled for next week.

Paul (4^th over all, 34:47), Cody (17^th overall, 38:59), and Dan (27^th overall, 41:47) all seemed to be okay with the race.  Paul won the age and was a couple of seconds out of overall place and money.  Dan got bumped up to 3^rd in his age because the first three guys were overall. So Paul’s loss was Dan’s gain.

I got up this morning and decided not to run because of the snow and ice, so I waited a few hours.  I went about 10:00 am in between my classes, so I only had time for a shorter run.  I went on the Lundstrom 5 mile loop.  I felt okay, other than some tightness in the hamstrings from the 10k on Saturday.  I ran good and probably ran the right amount for me today.

34:27

Day off.  I spent too much time shoveling the 7 inches of snow we got.  I did make it out to lift my legs this morning before ex-phys lab.

I went early morning and it was butt cold, it felt like I had gone back in time one month.  The roads were snowy and icy so I took it easy.  I am very sore from lifting my legs yesterday. 

I went on my south Providence loop, and although I was so sore I ran okay.  I came back up the 800 North hill.  I am glad that when I go out at 6:00am I am not running my whole run in the dark.

1:01:20

I ended up sneaking a run in between two of my classes, which made me late for the second one, but that's okay.  I ran about noon and it wasn't any warmer, but at least it was light.  I did the same run as my Lundstrom 5 miler, but I extended by two miles.  I went all the way down 1200 E. until 2300 N. where the road turns.  I went up to 1250 E., turned North and went to 2700 N..  It was past the park where they hold the Pumpkin Walk every year.  I then went upto 1600 E. and met back with my 5 mile course.  It was nasty going South with a hard, bitter cold wind blowing in my face.  I felt alright, but mainly just plugged along.

49:25

I went out tonight at about 6:30pm and ran my Millville out and back run.  It was very cold, and was only light for the first two miles.  Luckly there was most of a moon out to light the way.  I hate running at night because not only is it dark, cold, and a lot of traffic, but it feels like you are running faster than you are and the time goes by really slow.  I tried out my brand new pair of Saucony Hurricanes and they felt good.  It was a decent run overall.

1:15:51

I ran about noon today because I spent all morning doing homework.  None of the guys said that they wanted to run today with me so I was on my own again.   I was feeling lastnight's run all morning and was fairly tight in my lower back for some reason?  I took it out easy because I wanted to go 15 miles, and not only did I run lastnight, but my long run was just over 10 for the year. 

I figured I needed some distance and some hills for next weeks race so I went on a modified version of a loop I was donig last year that goes up Providence hill, runs along the bench down in to Millville and back.  The old loop was about 14.6, so I added enough to make it a full 15 miler. 

I felt crappy most of my run, really heavy.  The hills hammered me, and I got attacked by a few dogs in Millville (that I might go take care of later), but I finished.  I feel really tired and my body is wore out, probably from running 25+ miles in 24 hours which I am not used to.  Even though I felt like I was crawling home, I still ran fairly good.  I am glad to get a15 miler under my belt at the first of March, something that I have never done before!

1:48:40

I reached my goal this week, even with a crappy start because of the snow.  I am going for 50 miles next week.

Today is my Birthday so I skipped my first two classes and went on a run.  I decided to get the hard things done first so I went on the same run as Saturday.  I felt a lot better than the other day.  It was still cold but not too bad and I didn't come home with any frost-bite like on Saturday.  It was a good way to start the week.

1:46:37

I was a little tight from yesterday, so my run today was supposed to be recovery.  I went inbetween my afternoon classes, because I had a huge test in EX Phys this morning.  It was a pretty nice day and I actually over dressed for the first time all year. I felt really sluggish at first but actually was running good and didn't know it.  I did the Center Street/River Heights loop with Old Main stairs.  By the time I was done with my run I had run my fastest time of the year.  I was pleased.  If I can go out and my recovery run becomes my fastest time of the year on that course, it means that I am actually reaching a level of fitness. 

49:36

Lundstrom 5 miler. Nice day today other than some poor air quality.  I went out at noon today because my class was canceled. I felt a bit of a twitch in back of my right knee that I wasn't too fond of.  I might take tomorrow or Friday off so I don't overdue it.  I am trying to move up the mileage slowly but as fast as posible, and I don't want to take any chances of getting injured.  I felt okay other than that twitch.  I ran the last 1.6 as tempo in 9:09 and my total time was 33:42

I went out today at about 11:00am because I had another class cancel. It was a nice day and the air quality was much better. I went on a relatively new run today. I was trying to get a similar run to what I will face on Saturday so I went on my River Heights/Center street loop, but I added going all the way up Mountain Road to the mouth of Dry Canyon. I turned around and ran down to where I normally turn into River Heights and continued with my 7 mile course. I forgot how much of a climb it is going up Cliff Side and Mountain Road, I was ready to turn around when I did. I actually ran faster than the other day on my 7 miler if you cut out the part up and down Mountain Road (49:09), I even went up old main stairs at the end. I think I will add a bit to that run and make it a 15k.

I felt pretty good today after my wife spent 45 minutes last night working all of the nasty knots out of my calves. I am a little nervous about the 10 miler on Saturday, because I know it is going to be a tough one. Plus, going from a 10k to a 10 miler in two weeks is a lot different than going from a 5k to a 10k in two in two weeks.

1:04:32

Warmed up by myself before the race for just under two miles.   The weather was nice, it had been raining but had stopped by race time.  I stripped down to shorts and a long-sleeve shirt.

I took off easy and moved my way up during the race.  The mile markers were off so I didn't even worry about splits.  I ran with a few guys for the first couple of miles and then HRH and I started to chase the group in  front of us at about half-way.  Bob was ahead of me until we hit the down hill with just over two miles left and I then pulled away and started to close on the three in front of me, one of which was Cody.  I ran out of road before I caught any of them. 

The course was tough, especially 4.5-7 miles.  I ran about how I wanted and had no major disappointments.  It was a decent performance for me right now. 

I went on a cool down with Tracy Phiefield afterwards.

1:03:24

I am going to really have to pull out some good races next month if I want to place in my age in this circuit.  At least I didn't lose much ground on the front runners this time.

I reached my goal of 50 miles for the week.

(Tangent 65 miles)

Day off.  I really wanted to run today because it was so nice out, but I have been sick since Friday and I need to get better.  I think the race helped enhance any kind illness that I had coming on, and the lack of sleep the past four days  was a big contributer too.

I went out in the evening tonight.  It was beautiful!  I haven't run in weather that nice since St. George last October.  I went on my Milleville out and back run and felt pretty good.  I am not used to running at that time so I didn't feel like going, but I enjoyed it once I got out.  I ended up running a lot faster than usual, and with less effort, probably the after effects from Saturday's 10 miler.

1:12:49

Evening run again, not as nice as yesterday but still very nice.  I met Paul at the canal trail and we ran up to 2nd dam and back.  The pace was comfortable and I enjoyed having someone to visit with.  I haven't run with anyone since I ran with Paul and Dave during the deer hunt.  The river trail wasn't too bad until the last half mile up, then we hit some snow, ice and muck.  Even the muck wasn't too bad.  The soft footing felt great compared to the cold hard roads I have been running on.  We saw quite a bit a wild-life and I had a perfect run for me tonight.  Average time on that course.

1:14:21 

Lundstrom 5 miler this morning.  It was a bit chilly,but I was still in shorts and a long-sleeve shirt.  Easy pace for the most part and I felt fine. 

34:41

Went to see Dr. Stucky this afternoon for an adjustmest and I feel even better.

I went and ran the Shamrock Shuffle 5k at Skyview High this morning.  It was a very low key cheap race that only cost me $3 to run.  I am not logging it as a race because I didn't race it, or really even try to.  I just wanted  to run a little bit of tempo and it sounded fun.  I am tring to start doing a few two-a-day runs and figured it would be perfect since I was going to run this afternoon anyways.  The course was pretty easy, especialIy after running Striders course the last month.  It was just a big loop throught the fields of Smithfield and Hyde Park.  I ended up in 4th overall and 2nd ing the age and got a nice NordicTrack mock compression shirt in the drawing, not bad for a 10:00am fun run that cost me $3.  I warmed up and cooled down with a mile each time.

18:05  (5:50 mile pace) perfect tempo run!

I  ran this afternoon again.  It was around 70 degrees, so a good temp for some Del Sol training, but a kick in the pants when you are used to running in below freezing weather everyday.  Other than the fact that it was pretty warm and I didn't bring or plant any water or drinks, it was a great run.  I met Cody, Jon, Dan, and Paul at the canal trail and we ran upto Guinivah Malibu campground and back.  It was just what I needed, social, good company, nice weather, and a soft muddy trail to run on.  I enjoyed running with everyone and talking, trying not to slip on the remaining ice, and running a nice easy pace.  It was god times!  The trail was pretty muddy up higher, so we got pretty covered but that is what makes it fun.  I wish I would have thought about it and went up and planted a few poweraids or something, because no water gets turned on until June.  I think we all got fairly dehydrated, so even with the easy social pace I was glad when we were done, and I am sure the other guys agreed.  It was great to run with everyone, hopefully we can do it a lot more often.

2:14:37

I went out at lunch time today and ran into River Heights to the bench on top of the hill by way of boulevard.  I came back by way of the dugway and 800 North hill.  I felt good and the weather was nice.  Relatively easy pace.  5 miles.

35:21

(Hurricane 34 miles)

Evening run.  I went to first dam via 600 East and canyon road.  Then went up past Hillcrest and Lundstrom park, up the 12th East hill heading south, and down home past the cemetary and stadium.  Good run, I felt good and it was a nice evening.  6.3 miles

42:25

I like how Paul keeps track of his mileage on his shoes so I have decided to try it myself.

(Omni 73 miles)

I got up at 6:00am and went out on a Center Street/River Heights loop.  It was dark and pooring rain.  I was soaked about 2 minutes into my run, and it continued to poor on me for another 50 minutes.  By the end of the run I started to feel the weight of my drenched clothing, but overall I didn't feel to bad.  I was planning on a couple more miles, but I was miserable so I cut it short and made it 7 miles.  At the end of the run the rain turned to snow, and about 10 minutes after I got home everything completely stopped.  I got home and undressed, made some hot chocolate, and jumped in an extemely hot shower to unchill.

51:09

I ran yesterday at noon, last night at 6:30pm, and this morning.  The purpose of running shorter runs close together was to give me a feel of what Del Sol will be like.  Even though I ran three times in 20 hours, it is still not completely accurate because in the relay I will actually run three times in about 13-14 hours.  I figure it is close enough for training and I plan on doing it a couple more times in the next week.

I went out at about noon today, it was just starting to get nice out, but was still chilly enough for long-sleeves.  I went on the Providence hill loop, but added a mile+ running up toward the mouth of the canyon.  I decided to mix things up and try a little Fartlek.  I have five timers on my watch so I set the segments to the time that I wanted to run, (2:00-hard, 2:00-easy, 3:00- hard, 3:00 easy).  I wanted to run though three sets of segments.  I started with three miles of good warm-up (7:00 pace), and started into my speed-play feeling pretty good.  At the end of my second segment I finally caught on that something wasn't right, when I ran well over a half mile and closer to mile on a two minute segment.  I figured out that my watch was on slow and I had been running double the time.  I had originally planned to run 15 minutes of tempo, and instead ran 25-30 minutes.  I guess I ended up with a better workout than I thought I did.  I am pretty sure I ran well over 4 miles of tempo,but that is all I will count, even though I know that I was running under 6:00 min. mile pace.

At least 10.5 miles, probably closer to 11+.

1:13:54

(Adrenaline- 16 miles)

Lundstrom park 5 miler.  I went inbetween classes at about 11:30, the weather was perfect.  I tried to make it an easier run, but I must have still been in the tempo mode from yesterday because I ran pretty good.  I felt great,  ran a good pace and enjoyed myself.  My next run will be interesting now, I will probably be dragging along because of a lack of recovery.

33:35

(Omni-78 miles)

I got a baby-sitter for my little boy and finally got out the door for a run at 10:30am.  I had originally planned to go with Jon @ 7:00am or Paul and Cody @ 9:00am, but I couldn't find a sitter.  It was nice weather and I tried to take it pretty easy so I will have something left later today when I run with Paul and Cody.  I did an out and back 10k into River Heights.  I felt good, not as smooth as yesterday, but good.

44:02

(Hurricane-40 miles) 

I ran again with Paul and Cody this afternoon at 4pm.  We met at the end of Hollow Rd. at the mouth of Blacksmith Fork.  We drove one car up and left the other one at the bottom.  We warmed at a brisk pace for 2 miles and then started some tempo.  Paul took off ahead and I hung with Cody.  We did 4 miles of tempo at about 6:08 pace, not too bad for having run earlier in the day.  There was a slight head wind that was more annoying than anything.  The good thing was that it actually kept us cool, which I was grateful for because it was warm.  We finished our tempo miles, met up with Paul again, and ran the rest of the way out of the canyon together.  It was a good run and great to have some company, especially on the tempo part.  I was glad to be done when we were, but I was even more glad to finally get the  poweraid in my car when we drove back up to get it.

11 miles 1:13:56

(Adrenaline-27 miles)

I got out of class early tonight so I went on a run about 7pm.  I didn't feel much like running, but after the first couple of miles I felt really good.  I ran up to the mouth of Dry Canyon and looped through River Heights on the way back.  I ended with the Old Main stairs, and added a block at the end to make it a full 15k.  I felt better in the last 2/3s of my run tonight than I have all year.  I am glad that I went out tonight, I needed to run off some stress from today.

1:04:22

(Hurricane-50 miles)

6am run, nice weather, warm, and sprinkling rain.  I ran an easy River Heights bench run, and came back up 800 North hill. 

36:45

 (Omni-83 miles)

I ran again at noon and went on my canal trail, 1st dam, HillCrest loop.  It was chilly and raining pretty good.  I felt good and kicked out a great run.  The last 1/4 mile is down 1000 North by the cemetary, and it is a screamer, so I ran the last mile in about 5:40.

32:24

(Adrenaline-32 miles)

We met at Paul's for an easy run before the BBQ. It was me, Dave, Paul, Jon, Cody, and Dan. I ran with everyone at some point and it was nice to visit. I mostly ran with Dave and visited with him, I have miss running with him a couple of mornings a week. It was cold and raining on the run but the company helps me not think about that. We ran a nice easy pace most of the run, and looped around River Heights and Providence. It was a nice fun run. Cooled down to make it an even 7 miles.

51:10

We had a BBQ after the run and just socialized and talked about Del Sol a little bit. I met Ryan, Chris, and Dan's wife Emily, Allison and Jaren came over too.

Del Sol We started the race at 6pm with four other teams. Dave stared us off followed by Clyde, Sasha, Dan, Paul, and Jon. My van was second and our order was: Laud, Chris, Me, Ryan, Andy ,and Cody. We started the race off with the team and after being pulled over for having a brake light out and fixing it, we went to the first major exchange to chill until it was our turn. When we passed by our team we couldn't tell where we were, but the other two teamms were way behind Google, and Clyde. Google was pretty much running away from us at first but I figured we could hang with them overall. I was excited for the competition, I love to make it a race, especially when the other team thinks they will blow us out.

My first leg was late at night, probably 11pm arizona time. We were in the middle of no where, and my leg was 7.1 on a long gradual uphill slope. The uphill was gradual enough that I didn't really notice it. It was light because of the moon so I only used my head light when people were coming. I felt good and ran well, but was fairly conservative. I ended up graining over 3 minutes on my Google opponent. I made sure to cool down good after bcause I knew we had a long night and a tough close race still ahead.

When I got the wristband we were down by about 8:40 and when I finished we supposedly down by around 5:30insh.  I had no idea what my pace was or how far I had went, but I ended up being almost right on where Paul had predicted I would be.  I found out later from the Google guy that I was running against that I had actually done better than what I had thought I had, because instead of it being 6.8 or 9 like it was supposed to be, it was a bit longer 7.1.  I ended up running it in 42:28 according to my watch, 5:58 mile average, and I gained a lot of time on my guy. 

My van ran pretty strong in the first leg.  I was a bit worried about Laud in his first leg because he rolled his ankle warming up and was swearing and all pissed off.  Andy assured us that he is like that before and after every run whether he does good or not, and he was right.  Laud lost a couple of minutes to his guy but ran well.  Chris ran good on his leg and didn’t lose too mush time.  He had to run through a flooded part of the road and got soaked, and I felt bad about it because it happened while the van was dropping me off at my exchange to warm up.  Ryan ran great his first leg and lost some time but not tons.  Andy picked up a couple of minutes on his guy, he ran good.  He kept talking about how he always blows up in races from going out too hard, so I was worried after he took his first leg out hard, but there was no need to be, because he was strong the whole relay.  Cody ran well and closed about 1:20 on his man.  By the time we exchanged to Dave we were down by about 4:40ish, so between going up and down with our legs we still gained close to 2 minutes over all.

Del Sol continues on Saturday

We tried to get some spaghetti at exchange 12 but everything was pretty much closed and out of food by the time we would get to it, that is what happens when you start so far behind everyone.  After our first legs were done we drove to the next major exchange to try and get some sleep.  We ended up in a parking lot with nothing but vans and gravel, that is where we started to catch other teams. There were a whole bunch of vans at that exchange. We tried to get some sleep and ended up all crunched in the van,  I got about 45 minutes worth of naps and that would be all I would get the rest of the time.

This is where the relay got exciting because our other guys had gotten behind until Paul gained 5:00 back on his guy on a long uphill stretch, and Jon gained some more time on his guy.  Instead of being down by 6:30 like we were at exchange 6, we end up down by 2:50, and Google went from really cocky to very concerned!  We knew we could come close to making up the time on the second Google van.  We all had shorter legs this time too, so we figured we would give Google something to be worried about, and it worked because they started getting our splits from then on, throughout the race.  Laud only lost seconds to his guy and Chris held fairly even with his chick.  When I started my second leg we were only down by 3:35. 

It was still dark on my second leg but this time there was no moon.  I took off and felt great, I had an easy leg, pretty much downhill to flat, probably a 2% grade at most.  Perfect course for just flying, and I knew could make up some ground, even with a 3.8 mile leg (which ended up being 3.9 miles and Ryan’s next one was .1 short, it all evens out).  I ended up running my leg in 21:24, a 5:29 mile average, and a 5:24 last mile if their last mile marker was correct.  I gained about 50 seconds on my guy.

Ryan ran the race of his life and actually gained about 40 seconds on his guy.  Andy ran hard again and picked up another 45 seconds on his guy.  Cody had the longest leg of the van, and ran really well, and his guy was dying.  By the time we made the exchange to Dave and van 1, Cody had closed one minute on his guy and we were down 20 seconds on Google.  I was feeling pretty confident that we would pull it off, but wished that Paul had a longer leg to make up more time on his guy again; I was hoping that our guys would take the lead.

We went to exchange 30 and all of us except Laud got adjusted by Dr. Stucky.  Cody and Ryan had never been adjusted before; I don’t think they were too sure about it at first.  Stucky fixed me up good and I felt ready to go other than my knotted up stomach.  I think that is the worst thing about the relay for me, I seem to hurt in the last leg and I could feel cramps coming on again.

Van 1 ran good but got back behind by 3:40.  Laud had a tough leg and struggled, losing more time.  Chris ran hard but his chick came alive and ran away from him.  I was 10 minutes behind my guy when I started my last leg.  I was hurting for the first mile or so from stomach cramps but I pushed through.  My last leg sucked because it was getting hot, I was in pain, we were way behind, and I had to stop at eight traffic lights!  I was so ticked!  I ran through the first two lights and almost died so I stopped at the rest. My leg was 6.1 exactly just like it was supposed to be.  I ran the leg in 38:49, but my actual running time was 36:03,  5:54 average per mile, so I was stopped at lights for a total of 2:46, it was ridiculous!  I wanted to take Tanner Bell and throw him in front of every car that almost killed me.  I know that it was the first year and they will improve, but I wasn’t impressed with a lot of things in their relay management, and stopping at light when the race could be on the line really pushed my buttons.

I did make up a good chunk of time but we lost it all to lights and in Ryan’s next leg.   Andy ran hard again and made up a chunk of time himself, but we were still down by just over 11 minutes on the last exchange to Cody.  We missed Cody at his second mile because we got stuck in traffic, so we ended up finding him to give him water with a mile to go.  We had to fly to the finish to beat him there.  The team, - Sasha, ran in with Cody for a second place finish.  Cody made up a few seconds on his guy again. 

We all had a good chat with Google after the race and they acted like our best buddies, I think we gained some good respect from them.  They even stayed at the last exchange to make sure that they had the win sowed up.  They were talking about coming up to WBR, and I agree with Clyde that I would love to get another shot at them. 

The team ran so good!   Even though we had a couple of bad legs, most of us ran better than predicted and we were probably 45 minute faster than our predicted time.  It was a lot of fun and another good relay experience.  I was glad that I was a part of it and I am happy with my contribution to the team.  I gave myself a crash course to get ready for this relay in two months and I am pleased with how I did and how the team did.

(Tangent-77miles)

I finally got out on a run tonight and only went on the Lundstrom 5 miler so I could make it to Allison’s soccer game.  I felt a bit tight , mostly in the core and shoulders, and felt better as the run progressed.  I ran a good comfortable pace and a good time.  I had a stomach cramp come on in my stomach.  It was the same place as in the relay, and I almost feel bruised because of it.  I saw Chris toward the end of my run watching Rugby; he said he was doing after the relay. 

33:30

(Hurricane-55 miles)

I went out this morning at about 11:00am and ran up into River Heights to the bench and back. I felt good and ran very comfortably. 5 miles 33:54

(Adrenaline-37 miles)

I ran again this evening and had an other good run. I went up 8th east, 7th north, and down canyon road to first dam. I got on the new section of the Bonneville and ran over to Green Canyon and looped back home via 1500 E. and 1000 N.. I had a good run and enjoyed getting up on the trail again. If anyone wants to get up on the trail, the new section is really nice and you don't have to walk halfway up the mountain when you get to the bridge, the trail goes straight over. 6.4 or 5miles 46:01

I ran north on 800 E. into Hyde Park to 3400 N., and then climbed the long hill up to 1600 E..  I then ran back on that road to 1000 N. and down to my appartment.  It was an alright loop with some good hills, but 800 E. is to busy of a road at 6:30pm.  I tried to take it easy because I am fairly sore.  I think that my last three runs beat my legs up more than Del Sol did.  I actually didn't get too sore from the relay, and I think most of what I got was from the four days in the van, but the sleep part has kicked my butt all week.   I am sure that part of my soreness now stems from Del Sol though.  I felt good tonight once I got going. 

1:00:14

(Hurricane-74 miles)

I went out this morning for a very easy run.  I am hoping it will help losen me up for tomorrow's 1/2 marathon.  I ran down to the Temple via 600 E. and Boulevard.  I was crawing along pretty slow, I am still sore and tight.  I did 4x100 meter strides on the way back, and cut out all of the big hills.  I don't really know how I will do tomorrow, I guess that it depends on how I feel, but I hope to at least run sub 6:00 pace for the race.

24:30

(Adrenaline-42 miles)

Went with Paul, Cody, and Dan to the race. I did a short warm up before the race and I realized then that it wasn't going to be a fast one. I was having some major issues with my left calf, and I don't know what it is exactly. It was just achy and numb, a problem that I have had before. I always get a little freaked out when my left leg starts doing weird stuff like going numb, because I got a neuroma in my left foot in 2004 6 weeks before St. George. I ended up taking 5 weeks off and spent a few days on crutches. I was still able to finish St. George that year, but I my hopes of 2:35 that year were dashed. It took me quite a while to get over that injury and the scary thing was it came out of no where. I went from the best Marathon shape of my life to almost a cripple. Enough about old war stories! To put it simply, I didn't feel too hot and probably ran too conservatively because of it. I felt like I needed Dr. Stucky to fix me up. I wasn't sore though, so that was a good thing.

I tried to stay conservative in the race but not get too far behind the guys I should be running with. I ran the first mile with Dan and Cody, then Dan dropped back a bit and Cody and I went the rest of the way down the canyon together. Cody dropped back after the first water stop but I didn't look to see how far. I figured he would come up on me later but never did. I didn't worry about my splits because all of the mile markers seemed off anyways.

I spent the rest of the race trying to catch the pack with Ted, and Scott but never quite got them. I did catch a few guys during the race and in the last half mile. I was pretty consistant in my pace and had the same slower miles that everyone seemed to have. I felt pretty good and felt like I could have run faster but my legs didn't agree. I kept trying to relax my leg and foot. The numbness went away shortly after the first mile but the aching was consistant through race. The worst part of the race was going by the park, still having 1.5 miles to go, and knowing that Paul was probably finished and eating all of the good doughnuts!

I did pick it up a bit in the last mile and ran it in 5:41. I guess that it was a decent run for me, especially for a spring run and my short training season. I was about two minutes slower than I thought that I would be, but everyone else probably had the same kind of a race. Del Sol hammered me a little more than what I felt it did during the week. I just don't recover like Paul does. I figured that he would run under 1:10, and knew that he had a good shot of winning. I was glad to hear that he ran so well and won, the PR was a given!

I thought that the other guys from the Del Sol team (Cody, Dan, and Sasha) ran well too, and probably didn't realize that the relay hammered them either. I know Cody was pretty disappointed that he lost touch with me, but I thought that he ran really good. He and Dan are training great and running awesome, and it has taken me the whole circuit to get so I can run with them again. I am glad that we were able to hook up with them thanks to this blog, they are good guys and great additions to our Logan group, especially since Dave and Ben have moved away. Guys, be happy with your runs, anytime that you PR it is a good race! And Paul, thanks for winning so that I got bumped up from 4th to 3rd in the age group. I actually got an award this race and it was kind of nice.

I cooled down for a couple of miles with Paul, Bob, Dan, and Cody. 

1:19:27 for the race 6:04 ave.

(Tangent- 93 miles)

Day off.  Super busy day with School stuff and I figured the extra day of rest would only help me.

I went out later this morning about 11:00.  It was fairly chilly and I probably should have worn gloves.  I ran an easy run up to the single track and back via canal trail.  It was nice until the way home when I was running into a stiff head wind and getting snowed on.  I needed this run today and felt really good.  It was nice to go out, take it easy, and just enjoy being up the canyon by myself.

1:23:12

(Hurricane-86 miles)

I have felt good ever since the half marathon on Saturday and never really got sore.  I felt great yesterday too, but today I was sore!  It was only in two spots, my left calf down towards the achilles, and my left sartoreus muscle ( inner thigh).  It is either super delayed onset of soreness or I did it playing soccer on Monday.  Anyways I was really sore, so I did an extra easy run, a slow River Heights 10k.  It took me a while to loosen up and then I didn't feel to bad.  I am not as sore now, but I can still feel it.

46:10

(Adrenaline-48 miles)

I ran a mile on the treadmill with a Polar HR monitor in Ex. Phys. lab this morning.  It was an exercirse intensity test.  I don't know how some of you run on treadmills, I think they suck!  I will never run on them again if I can help it. 

I went out again about 11:30 am and ran up onto the Providence bench.  I came down from Grandview on 1000 South (good little downhill section), into Millville, and home the usual way.  I felt better today and ran a decent pace, but there is still some definite fatigue and soreness in my body.  12.5 miles

1:30:37

(Hurricane-98 miles)

Easy morning run.  I am still feeliing hammered so I took it easy.  I want to feel decent on my long run tomorrow.  I did the same loop out to Hyde Park taht I did last week, it seemed harder today and I was going slower.  There is a mile in the middle of the run, from 800 East on 3400 North up to the bench, that is a pretty tough mile and it killed me today.  I tried to hold my pace between 7:30-8:00 miles.  Hopefully I will feel better tomorrow and benefit from today's easy pace.

1:03:33

(Adrenaline-56 miles)

I had a great run this morning!  I met Jon, Cody, Dan, a new guy named Mark, and of course Paul at Paul's house.  We went upto Guinivah Malibu campground and back, via canal trail.  It was fairly chilly this morning and I stuck with a long-sleeve shirt and gloves for the whole run.  I enjoyed the run and had a good time talking and visiting with everyone.  The pace was perfect, nice and easy, just what I needed after a rough week.  We did pick the pace up in the last couple of miles and everyone ran the last mile home in sub 6:10.  It felt good to open it up a little at the end and I felt great.  I wish that I felt that good on every long run. 

I wished I would have gotten a couple of miles in after the run or later, but we headed out of town and I didn't have time. This has been my longest week in five years for mileage and I almost hit 60.  I will probably try for 65 this next week. 

Thanks guys, for a nice fun run!

2:33:07 total time

(Hurricane-117)

Val Barnes

Clyde Behunin

Good run at Boston.  I was very impressed with how everyone did in Boston today, especially in some pretty nasty conditions.

Ran this evening, nice weather.  I guess it is the calm before the storm.

First track workout of the year.  I started out running the Lundstrom Park 4 mile loop backwards and then running over to the USU track.  I ran a warm-up lap on the track, so I ended up with over 4.5 miles of warm-up total. 

For my workout I did 4x800 meters with 400 meter cool down (and a drink out of the drinking fountain).  I had no idea how I would feel, but in the back of my mind I wanted to run sub 2:40s for the workout. 

1. 2:37     I felt okay and tried not to take it out too fast.

2. 2:40     I was almost too conservative on this interval.

3. 2:38     I felt better than the second one, but the wind started to really pick up.

4. 2:31     I stayed conservative on the first lap and opened it up a bit on the second

My cool down laps were almost identical in time to my intervals.

Not too bad of a workout for my first one in a year.  I cooled down by running one lap around the track then heading up 1000 North around Hillcrest and looping around the university.  I ran almost a 3 mile cool down, and a total run of over 10.2 miles.  I got done just before the Thunder storm rolled in.

1:14:39

(Adrenaline-66 miles)

Easy morning run down to Melrin Olsen Park and back, via Boullevard.  I could feel the fatigue from my workout last night.  I had to cut the run short because it was in-btween classes.

I was planning on going out again later today but never got the chance because of school projects and deadlines.  The same thing happened to me on Monday.  It is going to be crazy for me the next couple of weeks, so whatever running I get in will be tough to come by.

30:05

(Hurricane- 121 miles )

 Easy morning run to 1st Dam and back, via canal trail.  I got snowed on the whole run.  I thought that I would feel better today, but my legs felt like I had 20lb. ankle weights on them.  I got snowed on pretty hard the whole run.  6 miles.  45:54

I ran again just before noon.  This time I went on my Milleville out and back run.  The snow was just stopping but the wind was blowing pretty good from the South, but at least I got a tail wind coming home.  I felt much better than I had 4 hours before, but still not that great.  I went out with the plan of doing some 2:30 and 3:30 fartleks, if my body could handle it.  I warmed up for 5k and started my first speed-change, uphill and into the wind.  I forgot that the timer on my watch was all meesed up and by the time the 3:30 beaped I had gone 9/10s of a mile.  I cooled for 3:30 real minutes and went again, this time by my crono.  On the way back I decided that my original plan wasn't working very well so I did two mile speed changes with the TOU markings.  My first one was mile 13 of the Half marathon, all downhill in Providence.  I did that in 5:32.  My second mile was mile 24 of the marathon, and it was 5:39.  I cooled down the last 2.2 miles home.  I was surprised I ran as well as I did in me speed-play ,because I felt so heavy the whole run, and the last two days.

1:13:27

(Adrenaline-76 miles )

Easy morning run down to the Temple and back via Boullevard.  I got hammered from yesterday's runs and I am feeling pretty sluggish today.  I did start to loosen up a bit toward the end. 

 24:22

I taught Ultimate Frisbee to my Physical Education class today and played with them for about 30 minutes.  That loosened me up a bit more.

PM run with Paul.  We met at Paul's office and ran through the Island  and upto Logan Canyon.  We got on a trail that Paul called the "pipeline trail" (for obvious reasons).  I had no idea that there was a trail right there.  We climbed up the hill and went though an old mining tunnel, where we had to duck for about 100 yards.  We then ran on top of the pipe for another 100 yards, it was fun and I felt like I was in a movie running across the top of a train.  The trail met up with the canyon road just below 2nd dam.  We took the trail and canal trail back.  Fun run.  I like to go on new runs and I enjoyed the visiting.  I was pretty tight at first but loosed up as the run went on.  Hopefully I feel decent tomorrow for our long run.

9.5 miles or more.  1:14:24

(Hurricane-130 miles)

Slept in until 8:00am, it felt good and I needed it!   Long run with Paul and Cody.  We drove up Blacksmith Fork about 4 miles and stashed some drinks, then went back down and started our run just off of Hollow Road.  We ran up the canyon at about 7:15 pace.  I was hoping that I would loosen up as we went, but I never really did.  We turned around 9 miles up and came back down, by then the wind had switched to a head wind going down.  Paul took off doing some 5:30 pace stuff and we would see him every mile or two when he was cooling down.  Cody talked me into running what he thinks his marathon pace will be (6:30 or a bit faster) down the canyon.  I was being a wuss about doing it, but was glad I did in the end.  My legs were just too hammered from sqeezing in mileage the last couple of days and anything faster than walking didn't sound very apealing.

We ran four miles down and Cody said he was feeling hammered, so I talked him into an easy mile before we hit our drinks.  We got our drinks and went the rest of the way down just under 6:30 pace, I think.  We met back up with Paul and he came down the last three miles with us.  I did the last mile just over 6:00 minute pace, and then Cody and I added enough to make it a 19 miler.  It was a good run, but I was glad to be done, especially when I didn't feel like running at all in the first place.  Thanks to Paul and Cody for getting my tired bones out the door.   2:12:08

(Adrenaline-95 miles)

I was glad that I was able to salvage a decent week after a rough start.  I am even more glad for the weekend to rest.  48 miles in the last 50 hours was a bit much for me.

I didn't have much time to get out on a run today, but I was able to get an easy 5 miler in between classes today.  I went over into River Heights and back via Boulevard.  I felt okay and seemed to have mostly recovered from last weekend's mileage.  I think that this week might be almost like a taper for the 30k.  I will not actually be tapering, but I have so much work to do for school that I just won't have time to run that much.

36:28

 (Hurricane-135 miles)

This is the third time I will submit this entry, for some reason the past two times I have pushed submit it has logged me out and lost my entry.

Got up and out the door by 6:00 am.  I thought that Paul and Cody might come up to the USU track by way of Boulevard, so I warmed up going over there.  I couldn't see them so I ran back to the track and took an easy lap.  2.5 miles or more for my warm up. 

Paul and cody showed up and we started our workouts.  I wanted to do 5x 1000 meters at what should be my 10k pace right now (35 minutes), which is about a 3:30 1000 meter average.  Cody wanted to do his workout a bit slower at 5:50 mile pace which is about a 3:40.  We ended up doing more of my workout.  Paul did his own thing, about 3:15 pace.

1. 3:31  I tried to feel out the pace and it felt pretty good.
2. 3:35  Cody lead, slowed it down a bit, but kept it steady (his Garmin helps).
3. 3:35  I kept about the same time as the previous one.
4. 3:33  Cody picked it up a bit after a slower start, when Paul came up on us.
5. 3:20  We switched leads at Cody’s request about 500 meters, and pushed it a little harder.

We did 200 meter cool downs in between our intervals.  I felt really good today and could have went longer, but I don’t want to overdue it before the 30k, and it is only my 2^nd track workout.  We cooled down a lap or so until Paul got done then cooled down with him and headed for home.  I talked the guys into running home through campus, down Old Main hill, and down Boulevard so that I could go with them.  I went down to Center and Main and turned around to head home myself.  It was a nice morning, quality run, and good to run with Paul and Cody again.  Hopefully we can do regular workouts together, because it makes it nice.

1:20:18

(Adrenaline-106 miles)

I am going to do Odgen Marathon now and just registerd yesterday.  I have never done a spring marathon before, so it will be good to judge how good of a start I am really off to this year.

I never got out the door last night for a run, I was too busy writing my 30 lesson plans, and 30 page paper on Reading and Literacy, fun stuff!

I have been so hammered with school work that I am surprised that I have even gotten out the door on any runs this week.  I did get out today inbetween classes.  It was a beautiful day and I needed some stress relief.  I went on a 2nd dam run.  I was so tight, especially in my upper body, from all the school junk that I didn't feel that good because I could relax.  It took me over half way to finally start to losen up and then I felt good.  I ran a good time for that run, and was able to relax more afterwards.  I am glad I got out, it really helped me feel better.  1:11:50

(Hurricane-140 miles)

Easy morning run.  Ran down to the Temple and back via Boulevard.  I did 5x100 meter strides in the middle.  Beautiful day!

23:33

(Adrenaline-109 miles)

Tomorrow is the 30k.  Hopefully it will hive me a good idea of what I can do in the marathon 3 weeks from now.

Race day came too early for me.  I am still trying to recover from my stressful week of school, and have been extremely stressed and tight all week.  However, it is good to be done with this 30k.  I wasn’t looking forward to this race and wasn’t sure how I would do, but it turned out okay.

We warmed up for a few minutes before the race.  I was surprised at how many people didn’t show up today.  Either people chickened out or they did their selves in at one the Salt Lake races last week.  At the same time a lot of the decent runners were still there.

I started out with Bob Hinze and a fair sized group.  We were going at about 6:20 pace, and it felt easy, even though I knew that it wouldn’t stay that way for long.  Dan dropped back after a mile or two, and Dustin was back and forth with the group for the first 7 miles.  After a few miles our group was me, Nate Pollard, Bob, and Cody, and it pretty much stayed that way through mile 12.

The course wasn’t too hard, but it wasn’t super easy either.  It all looked the same to me after a while anyways.  I mostly set the pace for our little group, and it was nice to have some guys to run with.  I was glad I had attached myself with a few guys or it would have been a long, boring race.  I didn’t feel that great today, and for some reason was having stomach cramps from mile 4 – 17.  I kept trying to relax to easy the cramping, and I think that running with those guys helped in that way too. We visited quite a bit and just worked together.  We caught Bill Cobler at about 10 miles and that was al that I really passed the whole race. 

Nate took off about mile 12 and I had no desire to follow, at first.  Bob and Cody stuck with me, but more on my shoulder than running side-by-side.  After a while I got tired of it, and decided to follow Nate, who was closing on Ted.  I started to leave Bob and Cody about 15.5 miles and chase Nate and Ted.  I felt okay and made put a little cushion between me and the guys behind me, I didn’t really feel like a foot race today.  I ended up finishing about a block behind Nate and Ted, and over one minute ahead of Cody, Bob, and Bill. I was pretty dehydrated by the time I finished, because I only drank about a half cup of water the whole race. I am usually really good at drinking and sometimes evevn drink too much, but today it made me feel sick so I didn't do it much.  I will probably suffer for it later, and was probably dehydrated in the first place, and that is why it made me sick.  It was nice to finish when I did, but I knew if I had to go a full marathon today I could have, and probably held my pace.  I felt good about that.  I didn’t really have any expectations going into this race except that I wanted to feel out a 2:45 marathon pace, and I didn’t want to lose my age group place.  I accomplished both and felt good about it.

I went on a cool down with Russ, Ted, Paul, Steve, Sasha, Cody, and Dan.  Got really sunburned too!  I think that I ended up 2^nd in the age for the circuit, far behind Ken Richardson. 

Good job to all of the bloggers that ran today, especially my WBR team who took the top three places overall, and five of the top eight.  Good job to Paul for winning, and Steve, Sasha, Cody, Dan, and Dustin for a good run too.

(Tangent-114 miles)

Easy evening run.  Went on a Lundrom Park 4 miler.  Very warm, even at 6 pm.  I went out at 8 minute mile pace but ended up not holding back like I wanted to and ran some 6:40s.  I have a hard time holding back some days and then I suffer for it later on in the week.  Good run though.  27:20

(Hurricane-144 miles)

Morning run.  It was very nice this morning and I took advantage of it and went out for a good longer run.  I went up Providence hill and up to the mouth of the canyon.  From there I got onto the Bonneville/Deer fence trail and took it over to Dry Canyon.  I really liked that part of the trail and have never been on it until today.  When I hit Dry Canyon I took Mountain Road and Center Street down and got on Boulevard.  I went home and ended with my fu little 800 North hill, which is a bugger after a run like that.  Good run and I felt good.  I enjoyed going on a different trail and plan on trying more out as the summer comes on.

 1:34:28

(Adrenaline-122 miles)

I had two interesting experiences today.  The first was about a half mile from Dry canyon, when this older guy on a mountain bike about took me out.  He was flying down the hill and not watching where he was going, and I was coming at him.  When he looked up and saw me I was on the opposite side of the trail as he was.  He freaked out a little bit, braked too much, and started fish-tailing right at me.  I thought he was a dead man as went flying off of the trail after I spun out of his way, but he got control and missed the fence and some trees.  He was flying!

The other thing that happened was one of the things that get me fired up.  I hate when I am running and people let their dog attack you or even just get in your way.  And I hate when people try to hit you or run you off the road with there car.  Both of these things make my temper flair!  I was coming out of Dry Canyon and going past one of the huge houses on the right hand side.  Some guy was getting his news paper out of the mail box,  and he had some kind o little yippy-snippy terrier dog with him.  The little dog came up and across the street and started to nip at my heel and ankle.  The guy started walking back up his driveway, did nothing to call off his dog, and was getting quite a kick out of his dog trying to bite me.  As I passed him I asked him if he thought it was pretty funny, and I thought that I heard him tell his dog to get me.  Just then the little sucker nipped my ankle and my patience was gone.  I turned and soccer kicked that dogged about 30 feet across the road, at the same time asking the guy how funny he thought that was.  I yelled back that the next time he thought it was funny to sick his dogs on someone that it was going to be his butt that I kicked across the street.  It probably wasn’t the best way to handle the situation but it seemed liked a good idea at the time; when enough was too much.  Other than that, it was a great run.  My wife thinks that I need to control my temper better and she is right, but some times I get my buttons pushed and I get a little fired up.

Canal trail, 1st dam, Hillcrest loop this morning.  Felt okay and just took it easy.  It was pretty warm, and felt good outside.  I was going to go with Paul and Cody at 6:00 am but couldn't role out of bed because I got to bed so late, so I went on my own.  5 miles

35:35

Evening run with Jon and Paul.  Easy pace and nice evening.  Good to get out with just those two guys for the first time this year.  We went around the Golf course trail and Blackhawk area.  About 6.5 miles total.

48:34

(Hurricane-154 miles)

Mid-morning run after my last final.  Needed to release a little stress and get a few miles.  I went into North Providence and looped back home.  Mostly an easy pace.  Kind of a boring run for some reason, it really seemed to drag on.  It was cold too and I didn't wear any gloves and should have. 

59:22

(Adrenaline-130 miles)

Done with a rough and long semester of school, and it feels really good!

Got up early this morning and ran a long run today.  Jon's wife dropped us of at the top 1.5 miles from the start of TOU and we ran down to Jon's house.  It was cold at first but ended up being good weather after all.  Good run and good company. This weekend is going to be crazy with all of the students leaving, so it was better to go longer today than tomorrow for me.  First 20 miler of the year.  2:22:30

(Hurricane-174 miles)

Jon, have fun on your vacation!

I met Cody and Paul at the canal trail.  We went up on the Bonneville trail and it statred snowing and the wind was picking up.  I knew we were in for it when we hit Green Canyon.  I went up the canyon just over 3.5 miles, according to Cody's Garmin.  We were going a good easy pace, (which didn't always feel easy on the uphill in the snow), and I felt like I could went the whole run with Paul and Cody.  I didn't want to overdo it though, and I needed to get home to do checkouts with the students.  I had already mole miles than what I had plnned to do in the wohle run, so I turned around.  The way down Green Canyon was terrible!  It was a head iwnd with snow blowing in my face.  I had a hard time seeing where I was going, and needed to see with the rough terrain so I didn't kill myself.  I needed some goggles for this run.  By the time I got out of the canyon and headed down to 1500 East, the wind and storm were dying.  I had about an inch of of ice and snow on my head, which started melting and running down my shirt the rest of the way home.  I went home on 1500 East and 1000 North.  Good pace down the canyon and home, but probably 9 minute pace going up.  2:02:03

I got 72 miles this week, my highest week in over five years, now it is time to taper back down for Ogden.

I got up early and went at 6:00 am today.  I knew that I would be wasted by the time evening came because of all of the work we are doing at the appartments this week, so I needed to get my run done early.  I went on an easy run out into North Providence and back.  Pretty cold this morning, and I had some general fatigue from the weekend, but I eventually got warmed up and felt alright.  1:01:30

(Hurricane-182 miles)

Morning run.  I was beat this morning and could hardly role out of bed for a short run.  It wasn't near as cold this morning as it was yesterday, but I got wiped out from the 13 hour workday and the late Jazz game.  I did a University/Lunstrom Park 4 miler.  It took me a while to wake up, but once I did I moved alright.  28:13

(Adrenaline-134 miles)

PM.   I finally got my tired bones out the door for another short run.  It was beautiful today and evening, hard to believed that I was getting snowed on Saturday.  Cody wants to do a 5 minute mile on Thursday morning so I will make tomorrow an easy day.  Because of that, I figured I needed something harder today, especially since both runs were turning out so easy.  I did a tempo mile for my last mile on my Canal trail-1st Dam-HillCrest loop.  I figured I would do right around a 5:00 mile so I could see how it would feel.  I ended up with a 5:02.  2/10ths of the last 1/4 mile are down the hill by the Cemetary, so it is kind of a cheater mile, but not that much different than the track.  Legs felt good, but my upper body is way sore from all of the heavy lifting around the apartments the last couple of days. 

33:10 for 5 miles.

Early morning run into Hyde Park.  I went the opposite way that I usually go on that loop, and I am not sure which way I like better.  Felt okay, I am just really wiped out from everything this week.  Stayed at a pretty easy pace.

1:02:35

(Hurricane-190 miles)

I met Cody and Paul at the USU track at about 6:30 am.  Cody wanted to run a five minute mile and PR, so Paul and I went to do some pacing.  I have been so hammered this week with all of the extra work that I have been doing thatI could hardly get myself out of bed.  I figured I wouldn't be much help to Cody because of fatigue and soreness, but since he made his time trial this morning just to accommodate me, I figured I would try. 

Paul set the pace the first lap and then dropped out and came back in on the third lap.  He was a lot more help than I was.  I stuck with Cody until Paul jumped back in on the third lap and then I decided to stop.  I am not really sure why I was being so wussy, probably because I was so tired.  I was going to jump back in on the last lap and realized that I would never make it across the field in time, so I started again.  By now I was about 6 seconds back and had no desire to catch up.  I cruised in the rst of the way and tried to get Cody's splits.  He finished in 5:00 a new PR!  I was 5:06 and glad to be done!  I was sorry that I wasn't more help, but I did the best I could today, other than my wussiness around 1000 meters when I was deciding whether to stop or keep going.

We cooled down for a while, and Paul went home while Cody and I did a loop around the University.  I was glad Cody ran what he wanted to, but in hind site I think he should have  went for a faster time.  We were all set on a 5:00 mile and that is exactly what he did.  We should set the pace for a 4:50-4:55 for him to go sub 5:00.  Cody is in great shape and could go sub 5:00 for sure.  I think he could do a lot better with the right training, but I was glad to see him do about what he wanted to do in a mile with only marathon training.  Nice job!

Long day of work again, but the apartment stuff will be winding down now a bit.  So much for a taper week!

(Adrenaline-140 miles)

A badly needed day off!  I have been hammered all week.  I did sign up for the Smithfield Health Days 10k on Saturday.  I am not sure how I will run the race?  I will probably take it pretty easy and use it as a training run, but we'll see how I feel.

Beautiful morning for a race!  The 5k and 10k started and ended at a really cool park (Mack Park) in Smithfield that I didn't even know existed.  I warmed up with Dan for about a mile before the race, he and Cody had already been running a while. 

The start looked pretty good for Cody to win the 5k since Carson Campbell jumped into the 10k five minutes before the race.  I knew that he would take it out hard so I figured I would just go out at marathon pace for the first half and see how I felt for the second half.  Carson took off pretty good and built a huge lead on me in the first mile or so.  The course went up the canyon road on some roling hills and it didn't seem too bad going up.  I just tried to keep Carson in site for as long as possible, and enjoy the nice morning and pretty course.  I didn't even realize that it was such a good grade, other than I was barely running 6:10 mile average, until I turned around and started back down.  The 3-4 mile was the steepest, 6:40 up and 5:08 down.  I felt good at the turn around so I just cruised down, and by then Carson was a good 1:20 ahead me and I was all alone for the rest of the way.  The course went back the same way until we hit just past the 5k turn around, then we went up on a different road.  There was a steep little hill that was kind of like the dug-way in Logan, that we went up to get on the random country road.  I followed the road for a about a mile and got a little nervous a few times that I was off course, but eventually I saw a kid directing me around three sharp turns and down a steep little hill.  Cody and Dan had finished their race and were cooling down coming up the hill.  They probably came looking for me, wondering where I was since Carson had already come by a minute and a half before. When I got back on the main course I was in middle of a bunch of 29 minute 5kers, but the it was only a block to the finish.  My splits were: 

1^st  mile-6:08

2^nd mile-6:27

3^rd mile-6:40

4^th mile-5:08

5^th mile-5:22

Last 1.2-6:01

The first three miles up was 19:15 and the 3.2 down was 16:31, like I said it was a lot steeper than what I originally thought.

Carson beat me down pretty good as expected, and would have done so even with an all out effort and 10k training on my part.  Cody ended up winning the 5k and Dan had some trouble but still ended up in 4th place.  It was a fun little run and I liked the course too.  We invited Carson out to do some training runs with us, he would be a great addition to our Logan group.  I felt good and was happy with my run, I did about what I had planned.  35:46 was my time (5:45 ave.).

The only problem with the race was that people kept jumping from 5to 10k and 10 to5k before the start.  Carson's card at the finish said he was 46th place in the 5k and mine said that my time was 36:42 and 3rd in the 10k.  My time was almost a minute faster, I was second place, and there was no one within 5 minutes of me.  Some kid that was like 14 years old probably took first in the 10k and set a world record at the same time!  They got everything figured out by the time the awards were given though.  I thought it was fun, and will probably try to do some more races like that in the summer.  Cooled down with the guys, and won enough money to pay for my entry fee, cant beat that!  Went to the parade with Allison and Jaren after the race.

Beautiful evening!  I did a 2nd dam run tonight.  There were a lot of people out on the trail enjoying the nice spring evening.  I felt pretty good, and went at a comfortable pace but held back so I wouldn't get carried away.  I am excited to taper this week and hope that I will be rested and ready for Ogden on Saturday.   1:12:47

(Hurricane-203 miles)

Hot afternoon track workout at USU.  I went out at about 2:00 pm and I was grateful for the drinking fountains that were on at the track.  I think they are the only drinking fountains on in the whole valley!  I did 2x1600 meters with an 800 meter cool-down in between.  My first mile was 5:19 and my second one was a 5:16.  I felt pretty good for both repeats, a little better in the second one.   It is nice to know that the rest of the week is very easy until Saturday.  Total time was 41:10.

(Adrenaline-146 miles) 

Easy 1st dam run this morning.  It was a beautiful morning and felt good to run easy.  I was a little tight at first from yesterday's workout but loosed up and felt good as I went.  46:18

(Hurricane-209 miles)

Easy afternoon run down to the Temple and back.  It was a nice warm day and I was excited about a very short and easy run.  I did 5x100 meter strides in the middle of my run and felt pretty good.  23:13

(Adrenaline-149)

All of my training for Ogden is now complete and it feels good.  Now all I need to work on is my mental attitute.  I always start to get doubtful of my training at this point and start to notice all the little aches and pains.  Funny how that works!  I know I am in better shape than I have been in years and I have had good health too, I think I am ready to throw down a good run on Saturday.   You never know what can happen in a race that long, but if I feel good I should PR for sure.  My only regret is that I haven't been getting much sleep lately, but I still have a couple of days to rest up.  I weighed in yesterday at 163 pounds, my lightest weight in six years!

Day off!  Nice to take a day off and just do other race preparations.  I think that tomorrow will be good.  I have never ran a spring marathon before, so I am excited to get one under my belt for the year.  Good luck to everyone who is running tomorrow!

Paul, Cody, and Dan stayed at my in-laws with me on Friday night.  It was kind of fun and relaxing to have my buddies with me the night before, and we only had a 15 minute drive to the busses in the moring. 

The start was cool but not too cool, definitly the warmest marathon start I remember.  I didn't think the heat would play a big factor in my race because I would get in early enough, but I was wrong, it got hot in the last few miles!

I started out with Ted and Jeff Shadley, running the first mile in 6:08.  I ran with those two for the first 14 miles, which made it nice.  I wasn't quite sure how I would feel, I never do because so much can happen to your body and mind over 26.2 miles.  I am not going to tell you my splits because no one really cares, including me now, but I was on PR pace at half 1:20:20ish. 

I ran with Ted and Jeff until we hit the climb up around the Res., and then Jeff pushed about a 20 second lead on me in the next couple of miles, and Ted followed him and stayed right in between us.  I was still feeling alright at about 16 miles and was just under 1:40:00, so I knew if I could hold on my PR was right there but it would be really close.  The problem was that I was getting tired and everyone around me started to dwindle off too.  It started to get hot and I could really feel it, even going down the canyon with some shade.

At about mile 18 I caught up to Ted and asked him to stay with me but he said that he was hurting and was just going to try to hold on.  I averaged 6:00s or better all the way down the canyon and started to fight off the mind games.  I would look at my watch one mile and think that there was no way that I would PR, and the next mile would pass and I would think I was going to do it.  I played the mind games for the last 10 miles of the race.

At 23 miles, when we hit the trail, I caught Steve Olsen and asked him if he was doing alright, he never responded so I moved on.  Jeff was still about 30-40 seconds ahead of me and Walter Brown was up there too, but I couldn't keep them in sight because of the winding of the trail.  I had been hydrating well and had popped a couple of GUs along the way, and every aid station I would dump water down the back of my neck to stay cool.  I was getting hot but I fought off everything, heat, fatigue, pain, etc. until mile 24.  I was still on pace for a PR and even had a bit of a cushion, but my legs started to get heavy.  I was trying to push but it felt like I was getting slower and slower.  My 6:00 minute pace fell apart and I struggled in at 6:25-6:30 pace for the last 2.2 miles. I had given it a good shot but was just trying to finish at that point.  I did catch Walter with a 1/2 mile to go and heard some people in the crowd telling me that I was going to be top 10, I thought that they must have been confused with all the 1/2 marathoners and relay runners that were coming in.  When I hit the finish line I was bummed a bit because the clock said I was just a couple of seconds under 2:43:00.  But because of the false start the clock was wrong and my watch was right, 2:42:25.  I hadn't died off as bad as I had thought.  I was just glad to finish by then and didn't know if could have run any further.

The first person to greet me out of the shute was Paul's wife Stacy and she told me that Paul had won.  I was so excited for him, and went and gave him a hug while he was being mauled by the media.  I stuck around the shute to see Cody, Ted, Nate Pollard, Bill, Dan, and others come in.  Everyone came in good, and most people were just glad to finish like me.

I ran about as good as I could today, I fell a little short in the last couple of miles, but I am pleased with my effort.  I have never done a spring marathon and wasn't even goig to do Odgen until three weeks ago.  It was probably close to my best effort in a marathon and I will take it.  I ended up 9th overall and 2nd in the age, and with a time that is my second best.  Overall the race was a good experience.  I was also happy for all of my friends, WBR teamates, and other bloggers who ran well in the races today.  Paul was the story of the day, dominating a comeback marathon with a PR and a 3minute course record.  Congrats to him and everyone who ran so well and trained so hard!

I will now take most of the next week off, do a reverse taper, and work on gettting some 5k and 10 k speed back.  I will do that until end of July or the first part of August.  I will need some good up and down hill training for my nasty legs at Wasatch back.  But for now it is all about doing nothing for a few day!

(Tangent-141 miles)

Glad to have the day off with all of the rain and nasty weather. Not too bad off, but I still have no desire to run at all today.

Not too sore anymore, but still not wanting to run yet.  I think I will at least force another full day off before going out for a few slow miles.  

Day off!  No run again today.  I will probably go out for a couple easy miles tomorrow.  I am being extra careful with recovery because I want to stay healthy and make it through the rest of the year.  I often feel pretty good in the weeks that follow a marathon and tend to do too much, and that is when some nasty injuries have taken place.  I have been more controlled and consistant in my training this spring and want to keep it going.

Last day off! I fully intended to get out the door for 3-4 easy miles today, but it just didn't happen.  I will go out tomorrow morning.

Easy out and back run this morning.  I went up to the nature trail up Logan canyon, via canal trail, and came back.  I felt alright, still some tightness in the hamstrings that I didn't know that I had until I ran today.  It was good to have some rest, but also good to get back out the door.  This is the beginning of what I hope to be an even better training cycle than the last one.  58:37

(Adrenaline-153 miles) 

Paul drove me, Dan, Jon, and Cody up to the Temple Fork parking lot and we ran up to the monument and back down.  Nice single track trail (soft footing).  I had never been up there before and I liked it.  Nice to do an easy trail run instead of a long hard run on Saturday morning for a change. 

1:00:58

Went over to USU after the run and played Ultimate with Paul, Jon, and Jon's group.  We played for two hours, got a good workout and had fun.  I am looking forward to more of these types of days.

I put my miles down in the "Easy" category but they were actually far from that.  I ran a loop from my in-law's cabin down the mountain and then back up.  I climbed up to the verytop of the mountain, dropped down about 1500-2000 feet in elevation, and then climbed back up.  The climb the last 4 miles is very similar to Ragnar, but I am not sure which one is steeper.  Beautiful Holiday run, and very peaceful.  I saw a lot of wildlife and had some nice running conditions.  Those hills about did me in for the rest of the day though!  8.7 miles in 1:08:19

No run.  I got too caught up in all of my projects to get out the door.

Morning run.  I did my same dog "punting loop" that I did about a month ago.  I went up Providence canyon, got on the Deer fence trail and took it over to Dry canyon, went down Mountain road, and back home via Boulevard and 800 North hill.   It was a nice morning, a bit cool, but perfect for running.  I hit the hills pretty hard and really worked on my form and on relaxing.  I like that run, it is a toughy but very good for training, and very pretty.  I will be hitting quite a few hills in the next few weeks to get ready for WBR.  My legs are pretty much straight up and straight down and I need some good conditioning so it won't hurt quite as bad come relay time.  I added an extra 1/4 mile because of a wrong turn and a cool down.  1:34:55

(Hurricane 222 miles)

Early morning run.  I went up to 2nd Dam and back via canal trail.  It was a nice morning, a little cool, but it felt good when I wasn't running into the canyon wind.  I ran a very easy pace, and probably my slowest run on that particular course.  The slow pace felt good and hopefully it will help me recover from my other two hard runs this week.  1:19:32

Warm morning!  I did a Lundstrom Park 4 miler as a warm up and then headed to the track.  I ran a lap around the USU track and then did a 13x200 workout with 200 meter cool downs.

:34, :36, :35, :35, :35, :34, :34, :34, :34, :34, :34, :34, :30

It was starting to get hot and there were a few old people that got in my way, but other than that it was a pretty decent run.  I wanted to run 35s and went up and down for a while and then got in a 34 second groove.  My last one in 30 seconds was about all that I could do after the 12 others.  It doesn't sound like that tough of a workout but it is.  It was good to get a track workout in after the marathon.  Speedwork has been my achilles heel for the last five years, I just plain haven't done any.  This year I hope to get on the track once a week and also get some tempo in, because I know it will help me.

1:07:30

AM- I went with my friend Damon Cox over to the Dixie Center where we met up with Clyde and Steve Hooper.  We did a fun little loop up the hill to the South past a radio tower and down along a river trail.  It was fun to get out and run with Clyde and Damon.  I totally recognized Steve from back when he worked at Runners Corner, and I enjoyed talking to him as well.  Damon was beat after the run, but he hasn't run much in the last three years.  He used to take me out every run and kick my trash, and that was when I was in the best shape of my life.  I was impressed that he was able to hang in at a decent pace for over 7 miles with zero training.  Good times!  7.1 miles 55:42

PM-  Met Clyde at his house and ran 6.1 miles with him around his area.  It was over 100 degrees when we went out at 7:30 pm.  We had a good visit and a good run.  We even did about a mile bare-foot on a golf course.  I also got to meet his wife and little ones (dogs).   I had a great time in both runs today.  42:53 

(Adrenaline-175miles)

I met Clyde at his house again, and Dave Holt showed up too.  It was good to meet Dave, and the three of us had a good run and a good visit.  We went out on a really soft red dirt trail that headed into the middle of the desert and eventually went into a town that I didn't know existed.  We then went past some of our evening run last night and headed back to Clyde's house.  It felt at times like we were going at a pretty good pace, but I am not really sure.  Thanks for the fun run and letting me tag along guys.   Didn't see any desert turtles, but I saw a bunch of road runners!

59:24 

(Hurricane-230 miles)

Damon and I went over to the Pineview track to run with the St. George crew at 6 am.  We were a few minutes late so they were already on a warm up so we did our own.  It was super windy and the weather looked pretty ugly at first.  We did a workout with Steve Hooper, Dustin, and Dave.  I did a 12x400 meter workout with 200 meter recovery.  The other guys were doing 15 or 16x400 meters and I didn't want to do quite that many today so I had a couple of 400 meter recoveries to stay with them while they did an extra 400 interval.  The 400s felt good until you came around the corner into the wind and then it felt like you were standing still sometimes.  I wanted to do all of my 400s around 75 seconds and was pretty consistant for the most part until I had some nasty windy laps, but I pulled the last couple back in where I wanted them.

1:13

1:14

1:14

1:16

1:19

1:16

1:16

1:17

1:18

1:14

1:15

1:13

I ended up pretty close to averaging what I wanted to.  Damon ran 4x400s and came on the cool down run.  He went to High School with Dave and wanted to see him again.  Other than the wind it was a good and fun workout.  I have enjoyed running with the guys down in St. George, they are a talented and fun group of guys.  We had a good visit after the run, in fact, after each run this week. 

(Adrenaline-183 miles) 

Damon and I went and checked Steve's store on my way out of town.  We met Steve's wife Kendra and his three little kids.  It is good to see someone who actually knows something about running open a store up, I wish Steve luck with it.

It was 84 degrees when we left St. George and 50 when we hit Ceder City, and 38 when we got home to Logan!  Typical weather for this year, it will get blazing hot and then snow on us a few days later!

I waited until this afternoon when it had finally stopped raining.  I went on an 8.2 mile loop through River Heights and Providence.  I wanted an easy run today, but even with a slower pace I still didn't feel too great.  It was probably a mix of not much sleep on my trip to St. George, the quality runs that I have had this week, travel, and the 60 degree in temperature difference from two days ago to now.  I just never got in a rhythm or felt good, and it was still pretty chilly when I was out.  I got spoiled running with people all week and when I went out today by myself, in the cold, it was kind of a drag.  At least I got a few more miles in today.

59:04

(Hurricane-238 miles)

I went tonight for a 5miler to loosen up the muscles and nerves.  I have to take the praxis 2 for my teaching certificate in the morning so I have been studying like crazy for the last two days.  After my 6 hours of tests tomorrow I plan on doing a fun trail run with Paul.  I didn't feel like going out tonight but I knew it would help me and it did.  After a couple of miles I felt really good, and I am much more relaxed now.  I ran into River Heights and back the exact same way.  Nice evening, and I am glad that I ran a few miles.

35:07

(Adrenaline-188 miles) 

After taking tests for 6.5 hours straight and having my brain destroyed, I met Paul to do a trail run.  It was a nice day and I need to release all the built up stress and tightness from the rest of the day.  It was just me and Paul which was kind of fun.  I think that the two of us have only run by ourself together once before.  I am going to copy half of what Paul wrote because I wasn't sure where we were at times and he is the map and trail master, besides he cracks me up!

We met at first dam and headed up Logan Canyon to the Right Hand Fork trailhead. From there we did a big 16+ mile loop: started up the Willow Creek Trail, then turned onto Steel Hollow and took it to its terminus at FR 056. We turned north onto FR 056 (Long Hollow) and paid homage to Old Ephraim by visiting his grave memorial. Old Ephraim was a legendary 9'11" grizzly bear that terrorized sheep during the 1920s, until a brave rancher repeatedly shot him to death with his gun. Pity. Now there are no more grizzlies in our area, but we seem to be overrun with livestock, most of which trample and poop all over my trails. Anyway, after stopping at the Ephraim memorial, we continued on Long Hollow, and then turned west onto FR 007 and headed toward Mud Flat. We then took Mud Flat all the way around to Cottonwood Spring and then Little Cottonwood Creek. And then we were back at the car. It's a great loop, and I've never done that particular variation of it (I usually come down Willow Creek instead of Mud Flat). The views are splendid on this run, particularly the second half, and everything is very very green right now.

According to the Garmin, our average pace was 9:07/mile. Total time 2:29:10. Fastest mile was 7:40, slowest was 10:31. Also according to the Garmin, total ascent/decent was ~4250 ft, which maybe why we ran so slow.

It took me a while to get loosened up because I was so tight is my shoulder area.  I have a very hard time putting todays miles in the "Easy" category because I don't remember anything easy about it.  We did a ton of climbing and it was tough.  The run took us a long time and we never went very fast but we weren't just moseying along.  If you don't believe me think about this: a 2:26 marathoner like Paul doesn't just normally train at a 9 minute mile pace and say that it kicked his butt.  The reason why it took so long was  that we climbed the whole darn mountain three times!  And eventhough it killed me I loved almost every minute of it.  It was one the the prettiest runs that I have ever done.  It was just added to my list of favorites and might spend a long time there.  It was nice to be up in those mountains and just shoot the breeze with Paul, it felt like we were truly in God's country.  We made a few stops along the way to take in the sites and the beauty of our run, and to catch our breath and suck down every last drop of liquid that we had with us.  That run was just what I needed today, and I will sleep very well tonight now because of it.

AM- Slept in a bit today because I was up late with my little boy.  For my run I decided to do some tempo.  I hate tempo and never do any, but I know it works and has some major benefits to racing, so I am trying to incorporate it into my training.  I ran over on the Island and up the Center Street hill, then did a 5K tempo run.  My first mile was up the last part of Center Street hill and up Mountain Road to the mouth of Dry Canyon.  It was a hard mile and i really felt like I was pushing it but only ran up in 7:25.  The same mile going down I ran a 4:48, it is all downhill!  There was a really steep tenth of a mile down the Center Street hill that was :28 seconds, I felt like I was falling on my face.  The last mile was coming off of Center Street and going down just past River Heights Elementary, all downhill until the last 1/4 mile then it starts to flatten out (5:07).  My total time for the 5K was 17:48.  It was a bugger of a tempo run but I was pleaesd with how I ran.  I cooled down for about 3.2 miles home and finished my run going up the 800 North hill.  I tried to simulate some of the type of miles I will be running at WBR next weekend.  My first leg in climbing up to Snow Basin and is pretty steep uphill, and my third leg is down Deer Valley and is some pretty steep downhill.  It was a tough run but a good start to the week.  1:05:06

PM-  I was going to meet up with Jon on his run somewhere, but had to go out a bit earlier so that my wife could go to the gym.  Pretty warm this evening.  I did a Lundstrom Park 5 miler and ended up cruising along in the last couple of miles at 6 minute pace.  It could have been considered a tempo run, even though it was nothing like my run this morning and felt quite comfortable.  Good day of running and some really good runs for me.  I hope I still have a little left for some easy miles tomorrow.  33:34

(Hurricane-252 miles)

AM-  Easy morning run.  I went out about 6:30am and ran just past the end of canal trail and back.  It was a beautiful morning and I didn't feel too bad.  I made myself hang around 8 minute miles, the easy pace felt good.  I ended up coming back over a minute faster, probably due to just getting warmed up.  38:00

PM-  Went out again after work.  It was starting to get warm so I decided to put on my shorty shorts and sunglasses for this one.  I did a Lundrom Park 4 miler, but stopped at the park and ran around bare-foot for over 8:30 which should have been at least a mile.   I felt pretty good for my second two-a-dayer in a row, but I might be feeling it tomorrow.  Nice and easy pace , but I had to hold back at the end so I could keep it that way.  36:30

Warmed up with 4.75 miles around the University and Lundstrom Park then hit the USU track for a workout.  I had to dodge a few old people before they realized that the inside lanes of the track aren't for slow walking.  That is the only problem with going to the USU track in the mornings.  Sometimes it isn't a big deal, but other times it really ticks me off!  I did a 13x200 meter with 200 meter recovery.   I wanted to stay at 35 average or below for the workout.

I got up early and went up Logan Canyon to 2nd dam.  It was an excellent morning for running.  I was very tired and pretty darn tight, but after about 6 miles I started to feel better.  I averaged about 8-8:30 miles for the first 6 or 7 miles and then went down to 6:45s.  The canyon wind was blowing hard like usual, but I was early enough today that got a tailwind coming back.  Nice to have my running over for the day, I need the rest.   1:18:17

(Hurricane-263 miles)

Slept in a bit and went on an easy 4 miler over to Merlin Olsen Park and back via Boulevard.  I was running about 7:30 pace until the last mile when i through in a couple of 100 metter striders.  Good recovery run, felt good.  29:23

(Adrenaline-201 miles) 

Another tough and beatiful trail run with Paul.  We got started at 8:00 am at 1st Dam.  I will copy where we went from Paul's blog.  And once again, it is hard to call these miles easy, because I don't remember anything easy.  Maybe we need a new category called "extremely slow and hard trail miles", and I would put them in there.

We went through the Hydro Park, then up onto the Pipeline Trail, which spit us out onto Hwy 89. We then crossed 89 and jumped on the River Trail and took it to its terminus at Guineva Malibu campground. Then we crossed 89 again and started up the Wind Caves trail.  As we we heading up the trail toward the wind caves, Paul almost stepped on a Rattle Snake and avoided it by jumping half way off the trail.  I was right behind him and almost stepped on it myself.  It was a good way to get my heart-rate maxed out.  After about a mile, we took a little side trail that takes us up to the ridge. Here, things got tough. This trail is is a bit less-traveled and has poor footing and a steep gradient. Plus it was getting pretty hot. We did the best we could and run/walked up to the ridge, at 7300', where we were treated to panoramas of Logan Canyon and the Bear River Range. Just before making it to the ridge Paul asked me if I hated him for bringing me on the run, I told him heck no.  It was kind of funny because before we ran up over the whole mountain, I had just told Paul that I was glad our run today was easier than last weeks.  I wasn't mad at all, I was loving it eventhough I was hammered.  It was tough, and when you get on rough trails that climb that high in that amount of time, it is actually faster to walk some spots.  From the ridge, we then dove down into Green Canyon on the Bierdeneau Trail, which was in much better shape, plus was shaded. We made it to Green Canyon Road (dirt road) and ran out of Green Canyon and then linked up with the Bonneville Shoreline Trail, which took us back to our cars at First Dam.  It was a hot day and with the difficulty of the run I was getting tired.  We ended up finding water with about 3 miles to go, which was just what I needed to refresh me for the last stretch.  These trails runs are long and slow, but they sure make you tough!  Good run.  I liked the course a lot, even with the degree of difficulty.  Paul knows all of the good trails, and like I said before, there is nothing better than being in the mountains on a trail run, enjoying some good conversation with a friend.  Sat in the shade for a while after the run until we felt good enough the go home.  2:41:22

I woke up in the middle of the night with a major cramp in my left calf.  When I got up this morning my calf was super sore and my left ankle was stiff as well.  I decided that I wasn't recovered enough from last week to do a hard workout, so I made it an easy run instead.  I ran up to 2nd dam and back via the canal trail.  It took me a few miles to get going , but I felt good after that.  It was a nice morning, a lot cooler than the weekend was.  The river trail is so thick and lush this time of year and there wasn't very many people out either.  Good run.  It is funny how I call a run like that an easy run, when two years ago, after I first moved to Logan and I wasn't running much, I considered it difficult.  It is amazing what a little more training and motivation can do for you.  1:15:52

(Hurricane-274 miles)

Nice cool morning for a workout, but I had a hard time getting my bones out of bed and out the door.  I think the biggest reason I had such a hard time getting going was because I knew it was going to hurt!  I did the same up and downhill tempo run as last week.  I was hoping to do it a bit faster than last week, just so I could show some progress.  I ran over on the Island and up the Center Street hill, just over 3 miles, then started my tempo.  I ran up to Dry Canyon in 7:11, I thought I was going to die!  I tried to really push it up that long hill without going anaerobic, and it hurt.  The down hill I really hammered out too.  The mile down Mountain Road and Center Street was 4:49, a second slower than last week.  The stretch just over 1/10 of a mile was :24, I was flying!  My last mile I kicked it down hard in the last stretch to break 5:00, (4:59).  I was trashed after my tempo, but a half mile into my cool-down home I felt good again.  I added another 1/4 mile at the end of my run to make it 9.5 miles.  I was happy to break 5:00 in both downhill miles.  I could never break 5:15 in the last mile last year, and I did that mile solo, not in a 5k tempo run.  I was the most pleased with my 7:11 mile up Center Street and Mountain Road.   It sounds slow but it is a toughy of a mile up that mountain.  Good run for me today, 17:23 for a 5K in a training run gives me some confidence going into the summer.  I might not be running sub 5:00 on a flat course for 2/3s of the race, but I sure as heck wouldn't run 7:11 for my first mile either.  1:06:46 total time.

(Adrenaline-211 miles) 

Met Jon and Paul at 1st Dam for an evening run.  We ran up the canyon and river trail to Gueneva Malibu and back.  We did a lot of gabbing along the way, which is always fun.  Good easy pace.  Hot run at first but it cooled off when we got up the canyon a ways. Averaged about 8:10 miles.  1:29:32

(Hurricane-286 miles)

Easy morning run, partially in the heat.  I went down onto the Island, up into River Heights, and back.  I didn't feel super spry today, but did 3x100 meter strides in the last mile and felt better.  I tried out a pair of racing shoes that i was going to wear in Ogden but chickened out. They felt good and are extremely cushioned for a race shoe, kind of a beefy flat.  I will use them at WBR, and they willl make a good 1/2 marathon shoe for sure. 37:55

(Fastwitch -5 miles)

1000 miles this year!

Day 1 of WBR

This year was more relaxed for me than last year was, probably because I am in a lot better shape, I had to run half the mileage, and I have a little relay experience now.  Last year was fun because we got a bunch of us nobodies from Logan, plus Sasha, and ran under 20 hours with an ultra team.  This year was fun because I knew most of our team, and we would be a Top 3 challenger.  There is something about being on a team like this that has a bonding affect on you, and I was honored to be a part of such a talented team of runners and people.

My first leg was at about 11:00 pm.  Leg 12 was new this year and started somewhere on the road going up to Snow Basin.  It was a 1100 foot climb in 4 miles, not near as tough as "Ragnar" or "You've go to be kidding Me!", but still one heck of a climb!   It was very dark when I got the baton from Jon and started up the mountain.  There was only one other vehicle that passed me besides our own SUV, and that was for the runner that I caught about 3 minutes into my leg.  It was kind of trippy being out in the middle of no-where and not seeing anyone.  I had no idea of my pace during the climb, I just knew that I was working extremely hard up the mountain.  The run seamed to take forever, and I would look at my watch after what seemed like 20 minutes, and only 5 minutes would have passed.  I just kept pushing along, knowing that eventually I would see the exchange and be done.  I almost ran over Sasha when I handed off to him, he must not have been able to tell how far away I was because I sure wasn't going very fast.  I was glad that was my first leg and could get the exteme uphill in the dark out of the way.  I did the 4+ mile leg in a blazing 29:02.  It was said to be 3.9 or 4 miles (It is amazing how close Paul comes sometimes), but according to the BYU guy's Garim it was between 4 and 4.1 miles.  It doesn't really matter to me, either way I was about the right pace (7:00-7:15).  The BYU guy that I was running against only ran 4 seconds faster than I did, so I felt good about that.  I lost track of BYU after our first two legs, so I never got any other details.  I can see why people like to have their Garmins on legs like that.

I ran into my Dad, who was on a masters team of all plus 50 year old guys (CUPS), after my leg and cooled down with him until my van was ready to head to the next major exchange and try to get some sleep.

Day 2 of WBR

We did get some sleep at the third major exchange, I ended up with about 50 minutes.  I have never gotten more than 30 minutes worth of naps on one of these relays and I probably got about one hour and 45 minutes on this one.  It is amazing how an extra hour of sleep can make you feel a lot better.  Another weird thing about these relays is how fast time will pass when you are not the one running! 

My next leg was at about 5:00 a.m. and is one that I did last year.  It wasn't as bad as I remembered it to be.  It was along the shore of the Rockport reservoir, on a busy high, and usually has a good head wind.  It is kind of a deceiving leg because the map shows that you climb upto a certain point and then role in on flat the last half of the run.  In reality it is hard to say exactly with no sleep at 5:00 a.m., the mind plays tricks.  What I remember from last year when Paul biked with me, was that we climbed a lot more than we should have.  What I remember from this time is I went up and up until about 4 miles and then had a slight downhill for the next 1.2 to 1.5 miles.  I felt kind of sick to my stomach at first, but was okay after about a mile.  The head wind coming around the res. was rater annoying, but at least their wasn't tons head on traffic like last year.  I pushed it hard and felt like I was flying in some parts of the leg.  I passed about 10-15 teams, which is always fun because they don't like it most of the time.  I really don't have any idea of my pace but it felt fast, probably a lot faster than what it really was.  I pushed it hard the whole way and felt like I ran well.  The worst part about that leg is that you can see the next major exchange the whole run!  When I came in I was starting to pass about 3-4 teams and the exchange was weird.  There was not a shute to run through, and the runners were waiting off to the side of the road.  I could see Sasha, but he couldn't see me.  Jon and Dan were trying to tell me and him where eachother were, but I ran right past him anyways before we made a bad exchange.  I told Jon and Dan after that leg that I felt like I was going 5:30 pace, not 6 minute pace.  32:24

(Tangent-151 miles)

We went to the middle school in Heber after my 2nd leg and got another 45 minutes to hour of sleep before it was our turn again.   I was pleased with how my van ran all of their legs, but the 3rd one is always the most impressive, because it shows you what people are made of.  My van (Dan, Walter, Drew, Clyde, and Jon) ran some great 3rd legs.  Of course the last four are the most extreme ones of the whole relay, with elevation gain and drop.  I won't steal anyone's thunder, but they ran great! 

My last leg came quick, since I got to the exchange only a couple of minutes before Jon did, good thing I didn't have to use the potty!  I didn't have the preasure of pushing for a win or anything, but I knew that I had to run very fast in order to break 18:30:00.  Plus, the Roadrunner team, that started at 4 p.m., was running right with us at the time and had Jody Benson running the last leg against me, and I didn't want him to catch me.  I took off on this steep hill that goes up for .3 mile before you drop down the mountain, and felt like I was at a very slow crawl.  At the top of the hill I was able to switch gears and run around 5 minute pace the rest of the way down the mountain.  It didn't hurt as bad as last year with running leg 35 and 36 together, ouch!  I felt okay considering it was the very end of a fast relay and it was getting hot.  I pushed it hard down the mountain, hoping the whole time that I could hold on and break 18:30:00.  Knowing that Jody wanted to catch me and that he wasn't too far back gave me a little extra motivation.  I was breathing pretty hard for a downhill section, but that gave me confidence that I was moving fast, so I didn't let it bother me.  There was no mile to go marker in the last leg, but they are never accurate anyways.  The one I hit on the Snow Basin leg was way off or I ran an 11 minute last mile, and I am pretty sure that it was really a sub 7:00 mile.  It is always confusing when you hit down-town and they make you cross streets, go through tunnels, and turn several corners.  But finally I turned the final corner to see my team waiting to cross the line with me.  We all went across together and finished in a time of 18:29:29.  My time for the leg was 23:47.  I talked to Jody after he came in and I actually ran faster than he did down, he never told me how much though. 

It was sure good to be done!  Eventhough we had some difficulties with getting lost and having some injuries, everyone stepped up and we still ran awesome!  Weber and BYU were the only teams that beat us, but I know they are not unbeatable, especially if they follow the rules.  I was glad to see Weber win it over BYU, they should have from the beginning because they had an excellent team.  Another great relay experience, with a great team! 

I stuck around the finish to see when my Dad's team came in.  We didn't pass them until Dan's 2nd leg, so I knew that they weren't too many hours back.  They ended up finishing in a time of 22:35:35, and lost their division by one minute.  I slept the entire ride back to Logan and crashed hard when I got home.

(Fastwitch -10 miles)

I was so sore today in my vastus lateralis (out quad muscles)!  I was way more sore than yesterday, talk about delayed onset.  I was hoping for 5-7 miles but I was in a bad way.  The funny thing was that no other muscles seemed too bad.  I contemplated not even going but I needed to at least get loosed up a bit.  The first block down 1000 North was about too much for me, and I almost turned around.  But as soon as I hit some flat and uphill I was fine.  I tried to run the flattest course possible, which is hard because I live up by the University.  I ran over to the Temple and felt great when I was on an incline.  But I was in trouble everytime I hit any kind of downhill, even the sightest grade.  Also, when I had to stop I could really feel it.  I guess my legs at WBR were a little meaner than I thought they were.   25:42

(Hurricane-289 miles)

I went out about 2 p.m. today.  It was pretty warm but only about 80 degrees, not like Clyde's 100 degree weather down in St. George.  Still, that was warm enough for me to put on the hat and shorty shorts for my run.  I went up to 2nd Dam and back via canal trail.  It was nice to be on the trail all by myself for a change, and the tree made for some ggod shade in spots.  I felt great on my recovery run today going up the canyon and was averaging around 7:10 per mile.  On the way back I slowed down alot because of my sore quads, and averaged just under 8 minute miles for a while until I loosed up somemore.  It is funny because I usually run that run the opposite; 8:00s up and 7:00s down.  I can run fine on the uphill, but give me a little downhill and I can really feel it.  Hopefully I will feel better tomorrow, but I for sure won't be running any downhill tempo!  Walked down the street on my cool down and stood in the canal by the credit union for about 10 minutes to ice my legs, it felt good.  Not a bad run considering I could hardly run down the hill by my house yesterday.  1:16:17

(Hurricane-299 miles)

An interesting sidenote for me: I hit 1000 miles for the year the day before WBR, and last year I only ran 975 miles the whole year.  The mileage alone gives me confidence that I can reach my goals, and I have had some good quality training as well.

Morrning run.  I went out into North Logan and Hyde Park on an easy run.  I looped through the south east part of Hyde Park and came home along 1600 East.  I added a part around the University to give me 9 miles.  I took it easy and didn't feel like running fast in most places, but I picked it up a bit in the last couple of miles.  Once again, the uphills felt fine and the downhills hurt.  My quads felt tons better today though.  1:07:37 under 7:30 average still, not bad for that run.

(Adrenaline-220 miles) 

I went out early this morning and wanted to get a workout in.  My legs felt heavy and I was way tired.  I warmed up with 4.5 miles and headed over to the USU track to try and push myself through some 800s.  When I got to the track I noticed the they had gates up every 40 meters blocking the first 5 lanes.  When I went to move them I found that they were all locked into place.  I didn't want to do my 800s in the 6th lane so I left.  What a pain in the butt!  I was ticked off for a little while but I didn't really feel good enough to do a workout anyway.  I probably would have been disappointed with my efforts, so going on 4 more easy miles was likely the better decision.  1:04:01

(Hurricane-308 miles)

AM- Good run for me this morning.  I went on canal trail up the canyon to thr nature trail gate and back.  I came back the way of 800 N. hill.  I started out at 7:30 pace and got faster and faster as I went.  I averaged just over 7 minutes pace going up the canyon, and 6:30 pace going home.  The run felt good, nice temperature too.  7.5 miles   51:43

PM- I  went out after work for another 4 miles.  I went down to Merlin Olsen Park and back.  It was very hot, around 95 degrees, and I had been out in the sun all day so it was starting to wear on me by the end of the run.  I was glad that I just had to go short this afternoon.  29:51

(Hurricane-312 miles)

I met Jon at the end of Hollow Road at 6:00 am.  We ran up to the Hydro Park in Blacksmith Fork canyon.  On the way up there was a nasty headwind, and I thought that it was going to make for a very long and hard run, but it mellowed down after a couple of miles.  We ran up to the park in about 53 minutes (7 miles).  On the way down we did some faster miles to get a feel for the 15K on the 4th.  We did two fast in 11:53, one slow in 8:55 (talking to some slower runners), two fast in 11:53, one slow in 7:36, and one more fast with the big hill at the end in 5:48.  We added on another 3.5 miles at the end down Hollow Road and back to give me over 60 miles and Jon 70 miles for the week.  It was a good run today and felt good to get some tempo miles in.  I am looking forward to the race on the 4th now.

(Adrenaline-237 miles) 

AM- I went out on an easy run this morning.  I went in to River Heights and Providence and did an easy loop.  I didn't feel too good today, pretty slow, sluggish, and not much energy.  It was probably the events of the weekend all combined.  I always have some runs like that once in a while, and they dampen my spirits a bit, but I know that I usually feel better the next time out.    8.2 miles  1:02:15

(Hurricane-320 miles)

PM- Drove my wife and son upto the river trail and they went to the nature center while I ran.  I ran up the trail just past single track and back.  It was hot when I started but by the time I finished things were starting to cool off.  I felt way better tonight on my run.  I ran good, and even ran back in 6:30 average pace, including the single track section.  I finally got some good trail shoes the other day (Montrail Hardrocks) and I loved them.  I highly recommend them, at least for the first 6 miles of wear.  6 miles in 41:31    I ran back upto the nature center after to meet my wife and son.

(Hardrock- 6 miles)

I woke up late because the power went off during the night and reset my alarm, so I only had time for a short run bofore work.  That is okay, because I was planning on a short anyways because of my race tomorrow.  I ran down to the Temple at a very slow pace, and came back the same way.  I did do 5x100 meter striders on the way home.  Hopefully I can just relax the rest of the day, enjoy the festivities here tonight, and be ready to run how I want to tomorrow.  Good luck to all of you with races tomorrow, I know I will see a few of you at the Blacksmith Fork Freedom run.  24:14

(Adrenaline-240 miles) 

Picked Jon and Cody up and drove to the start.  We warmed up for a mile and messed around for a while.  Then we ran into Logan Fielding and ran another 1/2 mile with him.  Jon and Cody had never met Logan before.  By the way registration looked we would never get the race started, but they ended up turning about 100 people away so that we could finally start.

I knew there were some fast runners there today, Carson Campbell, his brother Tod, all the the State Campion Mountain Crest cross country team, Logan, The guy that beat me at TOU half last year, and others who looked good.  I didn't worry about place, I just wanted to see where I was at in my training at this point.  Here are my splits:

Mile 1:  5:34- Started off with Logan and a pack of about eight others.  I felt pretty good. 

Mile 2:  5:40- Still running with Logan and feeling good.  The High schoolers were still hanging around and getting annoying!

Mile 3:  5:46- Logan and Neal Ferrin pulled up a few seconds, and I was starting to feel tight.  Frustrating, because I should feel good still!

Mile 4:  5:44- Still really tight, and I see Logan, Neal, and Kevin Dickey slowly creeping away from me.

Mile 5:  5:38- Tod Campbell comes up on me and I start to relax again.   

Mile 6:  5:33- Still running with Tod, Logan and Neal aren't too far ahead and not gaining too much.  Kevin Dickey starts coming back to me.

Mile 7:  5:51  Tod falls back a bit and I see Logan and Neal double the distance on me in the stretch before the hill.  Took a little water at the top of the hill and hoped to catch Kevin.  The hill didn't really help or hurt me.

Mile 8:  5:51- This was a bad mile for me but I felt fine.  I thought that I had picked up the pace, when in reality I had slowed up.  Kevin Dickey sees me coming and puts some good distance between us.  Logan was flying and I never saw him or Neal again really.

Mile 9:  Feel relaxed and wishing I would have felt this good the whole race.  Start to close on Kevin Dickey.  But still not super motivated, because of some bad miles and the big gaps in front of me.

Mile 9.3:  1:40- Kevin Dickey is slowly coming back to me and I just don't care anymore because the finish line is right there. Kevin ended up 4 seconds ahead of me, I should have caught him  instead of wuss around in cruise control.  I felt was better at the end than I did anywhere else.  Ended up with 52:48 for my finish time.

I thought that Carson had run away from everyone but it turns out he fell apart and took 4th.  I think he was in the lead for the first 7 miles.  Logan ended up really flying in, and pulled away big time in the last 3.3 to take 2nd overall.  Jon and Cody weren't too far behind me and did good too.  Josh Steffen came in 1st place.

I was OKAY with my time.  I had said that I wanted to run 52 minutes, and averaged 5:39 miles instead of 5:35 miles, so not too far off.   My time today would have won just about every Freedom Run in the last 10 years, but was only good enough for 6th today.  I was glad that there was a good bunch of front runners to compete against.  I am not quite sure why I felt so tight in the middle of the race, those were my slowest miles and should have been my fastest, acccording to the course.  I'll take this race today though, and I guess it is even a PR for the distance, because I have only done two other 15Ks and they weren't that fast.  There was a very competitive field and everyone ran well.   Good race overall, but I need to work on my shorter race mental game.  I can not think like I am always in a marathon and that I can dink around and people will still come back to me.  I need to hit the speed work before I go do any 5K or 10Ks, and get out of my marathon mentality for these shorter races.

I cooled down with Jon, Cody, and Logan for about 2.5 miles on the course, and had a big July 4th Chuck Wagon Breakfast after the awards.   

(Fastwitch -23 miles)

AM- Easy recovery run this morning out into River Heights and back.  A little tightness in the hamstrings, shoulders, and neck, probably a result of my tough miles in the 15K yesterday.  I felt alright though and went pretty slow.  5 miles  in 38:39

PM- Went on an easy 4 miler after work.  It was way HOT (95 degrees) and I was glad that I didn't go any longer.  I did my Lundstom Park loop, and did some running through the spinklers around the University.  I came right home and jumped in the pool for 15 minutes to cool off.  Not the best time to run but I have a dinner to go to tonight and I didn't see myself having a chance to go after.   27:40 

(Hurricane-329 miles)

Met Paul at canal trail head at 6:30 am.  It was not as cool as it has been last night and we had both had rough nights of sleep.  I was glad to run with Paul and pass the slower easy miles with some conversation.  We did the canal trail to 1st Dam, took the Bonneville over to Green Canyon, and back past Lundston Park and the University.  It is a good loop, and one that Dave and I did several times last summer.  Friday is my easy day usually, so I was glad that Paul wasn't wanting to do tempo or anything like that.   1:17:56

(Hardrock- 16 miles)

I ran over to the start of the canal trail and met Paul and Cody at 6:30am.  It was a little cooler than yesterday, but still pretty warm for that early in the morning.  We ran up to Gueneva Malibu and  back on the river trail.  We started of at a slow pace but got faster as we went.  On the way back we were doing 5:45 pace or so for a couple of miles.  I didn't feel that great for the run, but was able to hold the pace fine.  I was feeling tired and thirsty when we got done, but I still had some energy.  I got home and realized that I had run just over 17.3 miles and if I went just over two more I would hit 70 miles for the week.  So I ran around USU for a couple of miles to hit that mark.  I am not sure if the two extra miles did me any good, but I did hit 70 miles for the second time this year, and the second time in about six years.  I ended up doing just over 15 miles with Cody and Paul and the rest on my own.  2:30:00

(Hardrock- 35 miles)

It was a good training week for me.  My goal for the summer is to stay over 50 miles a week until mid to end of August and then bump it up to around 70 for marathon season.  Any mileagae over 50 is just icing on the cake.

AM-  I did a shorter run this mornig because I wanted the extra sleep.  I decided to do some marathon pace miles as tempo.  My workouts have been lacking as of late and it is time that I stepped it up.  I ran through the Island and into River Heights and back.  I warmed up for just over two miles and started into some tempo.  The first mile was 5:56, the second was 5:49, and the last 1.2 was 7:01(all up hill).  My goal was to run a little faster each mile even though they progressively got harder, and stay under 6 minute pace.  I cooled down with a mile home.  Not too bad of a run for a Monday morning after a tough week of training.  42:30

(Adrenaline-246 miles) 

PM-  I met John and Cody at 1st Dam after work and we drove up Logan canyon to the Jardine Juniper trail.  I was tired and had been out in the sun alot but I didn't feel too bad on the run.  It was hot at first but as the run went on we even got some cool breezes in parts, and it wasn't bad at all.  I really liked the trail alot.  I can see why Jon likes it so much, it is gorgeous and a good workout.  It is pretty technical in parts and you have to watch your footing, but you can still move pretty good on most parts of the trail.   We were about a mile or two into our run when we came up on Mrs. Bullwinkle and her calf, she wasn't too excited to see us, but luckly she went the other way.  We thought we might run into her again on the switch-backs, but never did.  We were being pretty cautious for a while though.  We made it upto to the famous 3,200 year old tree in 54:30 on my watch.  We signed the book and enjoyed the awesome view for a couple of minutes before heading back down the trail.  The views were splendid the whole run, and the red sun added to evening picture.  We made it back down pretty fast, 36:19 on my watch.  We did run into a couple of guys on horses and a couple of guys on bikes on the way down, but other than that we didn't see a soul.  We averaged 11 minute miles on the way up and 7 minute miles coming down.  I think that we were close to climbing around 2,000 feet and dropping the same amount.  Fun run!  I don't think that I have ever run before with the combination of guys that I did tonight (Jon and Cody).   I am had some good quality runs today and am pretty tired as a result.  Cody's Garmin had the run at just over 10 miles, although every map that I have ever seen said about 11.5.  10 miles on a trail like that is probably equal to a 15 miler in quality, if not more.  10 miles in 1:30 50

(Hardrock- 45 miles)

I ran over to the Island market this morning and met Paul.  We did an easy run and ran pretty slow, but got some good running in with the Center St. and Providence hills.  We went into Providence and came back on some of the TOU course.  I spent half the time telling Paul how Nephi is a clicky petty little town, and how I want to do the local 5k down there this weekend, but the race director doesn't like me to run his race and usually tries to screw me over.  I ran about 7 miles with Paul and 11miles total.  I sure didn't feel like running very fast today, so I was glad that Paul seemed to feel the same way.  Yesterdays runs were only 16 miles, but they felt like 30.  I will take it easy the rest of the day and hopefully feel good enough to get some kind of workout in. 1:25:40

(Hurricane-340 miles)

I was tired and sore when I woke up this morning.  I think that Monday's runs hammered me pretty good.  I didn't even want to run this morning but forced myself out the door.  I wanted to do a track workout, but I didn't think I would feel so trashed today.  However, I knew that if I didn't do a workout that I wouldn't get one in the rest of the week.  I haven't been to the track since I ran with the St. George running club over a month ago.

I slowly made my way down across town to the Logan High track, since the USU one is gated off (because the old people from Arizona over use the inside lanes).  I warmed up with a couple of striders on the way down, they seemed to help loosen me up.  I wanted to do 5x800 meters with 400 meter recoveries, but ended up changing things up since I felt so hammered.  I did 4x800 meters with 400 recovery, 400 meters, and 3x200 with 200 meter recovery, and then I was done.  My times were:  2:38, 2:37, 2:36, 2:30, 1:12, :33, :34, :32.  I was glad that I was still able to run semi-normal times with being so tired and all.  I had the same problem that Paul had on Monday, sloppy form.  I was either too sloppy or would catch myself running too tight, but hopefully I worked a few bugs out.  I cooled down to home, just over 2.5 miles.  I need to start hitting the track every week and not just once a month from now on.  I feel a lot better now then I did this morning before I ran.  I must have just missed Paul and Cody.  1:08:34

(Adrenaline-249 miles)

AM-  Easy morning run along 800 East into Hyde Park and back.  I was really slow and sluggish at first but got more loosed up as I went.  I started at 9 minute pace and finished doing 7 minute pace.  Still a little beat up from the rest of the week.  46:00

PM-  I went out after work for a 4 miler.  It is a little cooler today, but still quite warm.  I did the Lunstrom Park 4 mile loop.  I started out really slow (9 minute pace) and worked into a 6:30 pace after a half mile.  26:46 for the run.  After my run I went down to the canal that is a block down from where I live and iced the legs for 10 minute, it felt good.

(Hurricane-350 miles)

Easy slow run today.  I went down to Merlin Olsen Park and back, and did 5x100 meter striders to get the legs going.  The easy pace felt good, and hopefully this run will help me recover and feel good just incase I decide to run a 5K tomorrow.  I have been pretty hammered this week and I am looking forward to a little rest this weekend.    30:42

(Adrenaline-253 miles)

I warmed up for a mile and a half before the race.  At the starting line I looked around to see who the competition was and didn't recognize too many people.  When the gun went off several guys, including half the high school kids took off like crazy.  I thought I might have quite the race on my hands, but after the first 3/10s of a mile I had pulled up on the leader and started to push the pace.  The first mile was all uphill and into a stiff canyon wind, but I held steady with a 5:45 pace.  After the first mile I realized that I was on my own, because everyone had dropped back and I was still separating myself from them.  When I knew that I had the race in the bag I settled into more of a hard tempo pace and stuck with 5:45s.  It was just me and the lead Cop car for most of the race, and we chatted quite a bit since both of us were a little bored.  I finished strong but had no reason to kick at all, because 2nd place was way back.  I came in at 17:48 (5:44 pace), not that great of a time, but for being solo on a tough course I'll take it.  There are only two other guys that have run under 18 minutes on that course in the last 10 years (both University runners), so my time was more than fitting for the win.  It was nice to win big, but I would have rather it been a close race with several decent runners to push me.  I wanted to see how I would run on a course that is similar to Striders 5K now that I am in a decent shape.  I figured if they changed that course and ran it backwards I could have run quite a bit faster with the same effort.  I figure I was at about 5:25 effort for a semi flat course, so I did alright.   

Cooled down on the course after my big win, and ran with some family and friends and helped them in.  Fun morning!  I even won a couple of prizes, which never happens.  I spent the rest of the day with family going to Ute Stampede (Nephi) and Steel Days (American Fork) celebration stuff.  Good easy day, but I missed my long run with with my Logan friends this morning.

(Fastwitch -29 miles)

I went out around noon today for my run.  It was hot, but I figured it wasn't going to get any cooler this evening so I gutted it out.  I wanted some shade so I went on the canal trail and river trails up to 2nd Dam, and back.  I ran up in a decent time and didn't feel too bad, but I made it harder coming back because I decided to do a little tempo.  I guess that I kind of did what Paul calls "Tinman Tempo", and hit a 6:08 average for the 5.25 miles home(including the 800 North hill).  I did the no shirt, hat, and shorty shorts thing, but I probably should have taken some water with me.  My pace was definitly one that I can hold for 3 hours if I have water and it isn't 95 degrees out!  I was over-heating pretty bad when I fininshed so I went and stood in the sprinklers across the street at the Spectrum, and that helped cool me down alot.   That was the fastest I have ever done that run since moving to Logan so I was happy with my effort.   I felt good other than it was freakin hot out for a tempo run!  I agree with what Paul said yesterday about being sick of July, but I am really only sick of the heat.  1:10:27

(Hurricane-360 miles)

AM- I went out on an easy run this morning into River Heights and back.  I felt really tight and the run was very uncomfortable.  6 miles  45:20

I think that most of my problem was because of some bad news that I got last night about a dear friend of mine.  I didn't sleep well and have been very upset about it.  My best friend's mom, who was like a second mother to me my whole life, died in an accident down by Goblin Valley. http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=1491261   Marie was the nicest person ever, and she and Kimo treated me like one of their own.  They were as supportive to me as were my own parents, and every major event that has taken place in my life they have been a part of.  Our families have been extremely close for my whole life.  I used to go on family vacations with them, and have been on numerous hikes with them like the one that took her life.  It is a sad time for all who knew them and were close to them. My prayers and support are with the Coray family at this time.

PM-  The bright part of my day was actually the clouds and little bit of rain that we got.  I got home from work and decided to take advantage of the great weather.  I did a Lundstrom Park 5 miler backwards.  I felt way better than this morning and was actually able to relax.  The sun came out about half way through the run and started to get things hot again, but the first half of the run was very comfortable.  34:43

(Adrenaline-264 miles)

Thanks for the comments guys.  Sometimes life kind of gives you a good kick in the gut and wakes you up and that is what this was to us.  Life is precious and can be taken from us anytime, so we need to be prepared.  Thank you for your empathy.

I was kind of sick to my stomach last night and couldn't eat much.  I ended up going to bed early to help me feel better, it seemed to work.  I felt okay this morning, other than I was a bit weak.  I met Paul at Logan High for a track workout.  We did alternating 400s and 200s with full recovery.  I followed behind Paul at a good distance in every interval and then he would wait for me and we would do the recoveries together.  My times were: (:74, :36, :74, :36, :74, :35, :74, :33).  I felt pretty good and tried to focus on my form and relax.  It is funny to watch Paul run away from me like I am standing still and he looks like he is just cruising, while I probably look like I am sprinting.  It is called "being at a totally different skill level!"  After the run Paul and I cooled down for a couple of miles, and then went our separate ways toward our homes. 1:08:36
 (Adrenaline-264 miles)

I ran over to canal trail this morning and met Cody and Paul.  We did a nice easy run up Logan canyon on the river trail.  We went up most of single track before turning around and coming back.  Always good to run and visit with the guys. 

I have had a sore left achilles for the past week or so, and I could feel it pretty good in the first couple of miles.  I think it is coming from some nasty little knots that I found in my calf muscles last night.  I seem to get all of my tightness on my left side.  It might have something to do with past injuries to that side of my body, or I am extremely out of wack.  I might need to use my one hour massage (Father's day present from Allison) soon after Des News 10K to get me loosed up again. 1:37:33

(Hurricane-360 miles)

Easy morning run down to Merlin Olsen Park and back.  Achilles still sore.  Spent the rest of the day going down to Nephi for the funeral.  29:58

(Hurricane-364 miles)

I woke up this morning and didn't feel like running. My achilles is stiff and my wife left to Dallas for a week. I am Mr. Mom (except not that stupid) and will be holding down the fort and taking care of Jaren until Thursday. On top of that I was beat from the funeral and travel yesterday. I knew that I needed to get up and run some kind of run, and I really needed a workout for Des News on Tuesday. Then I remembered that there was a race in Hyde Park that is put on by the Sun 'N Snow people. So I drove out to Hyde Park and did the race.

It started a half hour late, which always ticks me off, and the course isn't a fast one at all. I just wanted to get some good tempo in, and was just going to hang back and have fun. After the first mile I got bored and took the lead. I led the whole rest of the way with no one really to push me. There were some decent runners there like Keith Anderson and a bunch of High School kids, but I was able to run away from them on the long hill pretty good, and then cruised in. My time ended up at 18:12. Warmed up before and cooled down after. Everyone with Garmins were saying the course was over 3.2. I don't really know, but I do know that I ran it almost a minute faster than last year and they had added another block to the course this year.

I was kind of bummed about the prizes, because all I got was a hat that said "Overall Winner" and a blue ribbon. Last year the first place winner got a pair of shoes from Striders. They had tons of big prizes like $25 dollars to Olive Garden, $50 to Best Buy, overnight stays at motels etc., but I won nothing. They gave away $100 to Striders and a treadmill from ICON, and two little kids got them. The whole thing was kind of ridiculous, but I might use it for some leverage for future comps. I would have loved a pair of shoes or even a Trophy, but I got the shaft today. Oh well, that is how it usually seems to work, they give thousands of dollars worth of prizes, and I win the race and get the same thing as every other age division winner, except mine says overall winner!

(Fastwitch -32 miles)

I did an easy 3.5 miles with my son in our bike trailor/stroller. It isn't the best jogging stroller because the front wheel is a little one that you just hook on to the bike hitch. The ride wasn't too bad, but the front wheel did move alot with rocks and bumps. I was planning on 5 miles today, but 3.5 was enough pushing my son. No watch, but I think I was running just over 8 minute pace. The achilles isn't sore anymore but it is still somewhat stiff. I am looking forward to Des News 10k tomorrow, I have never done it before and am hoping for a good time.

(Hurricane-369 miles)

Paul and I went down to Salt Lake and stayed with Chad (a great host!).   Sasha stayed the night too, but got up way before we did, so we only saw him for a bit last night.  We got to the start and found Cody and we all warmed up for a couple of miles.  It seemed hot and muggy for being 6:00 am.  I didn't feel too bad before, during, or after the race.  In fact looking back I was probably too conservative.  My Dad always used to say "run fast where you can run fast"  and I didn't do that today.  I got off to a bad start behind a few hundred runners and spent the rest of the time catching up.  I don't know all of my splits but I was at 5:12 for the first mile and 21:28 at mile 4, so I ran a steady pace.  No killer instinct today!  I just gradually got into a pace and stuck with it, while everyone else seemed to take off like crazy and die half way through.  In hind site I wish I would have really burried those first couple of miles and tried to hang on.  I think I like to run too comfortably and didn't run the race that I could have and should have.   None the less, I did run in at 33:51 and got a PR by 10 seconds.  And it is like I always say, anytime that you PR it is a good day.  It was my first PR this year, well second if you count my 15k.  My goal was sub 33:00 and I still feel like I could have done that if I would have really been there to race, and pushed myself harder.  The other guys all ran better than I did (Paul, Cody , and Chad), and we all came away with PRs. 

It was very muggy after the race while we were in the shute, but when Cody, Paul, Chad, and Adam cooled down back to the cars it felt nice.  In fact I think it was cooler a couple hours after the race than it was during, which I am sure made it nice for the marathoners.  We went back to Chad's house for breakfast and a good visit before heading back to Logan.   

(Fastwitch -45 miles)

AM-  Easy morning run pushing Jaren in the stoller.  We went downt Merlin Olsen Park and back (4 miles) plus and couple blocks.  It is the run with the least amount of hills, and pushing that stroller up those hills is bad enough.  No watch, but around 8:30 pace.

PM-  Jaren was at the baby-sitters so I took advantage of the time I had and put in another 5 miles.  I went down to the end of canal trail and back.  It was a beautiful evening, the nicest temperature in a long time.  It poored rain pretty good earlier and the air was fresh and clean, with that new rain smell.  I got a bit carried away with my pace on the way home, and was doing 6:20 pace.  I will likely pay for it later this week, if not tomorrow.  I wasn't sore at all from the race other than my nagging left achilles.  Either the soreness will come super delayed, or I really didn't push myself hard enough yesterday.   33:49

(Hurricane-378 miles)

I went out this afternoon after work.  I did the Center Street/River Height loop with the Old Main stairs at the end.  I haven't done that run in a while and it sounded fun.  It was only about 85 degrees, but very muggy.  I had a good run and enjoyed myself.  I felt good other than my nagging achilles that just seems to bug more than anything.  I don't mind the humidity other than I come home drenched in sweat after every run, and I am not a real big sweater.  I treated this run like an easy run and ran my fastest time on it ever.  Funny how it was a tough run before Del Sol and now I call it an easy run. 47:54

 (Adrenaline-271 miles)

I met Cody at Merlin Olsen park and we did about a 5 mile loop together. We went up Center Street, around the east part of the Island, around the water lab, and back via canal trail and Boulevard. We only took one wrong turn (my bad), but didn't get to far off course. I haven't run in that area for a while and I usually go the opposite way. We ran the opposite directions to our homes when we got back to the park. Good run this morning, it was just what I needed. The achilles didn't seem to sore either. I was thinking about it and find it kind of odd, but this was the first time I have ever went on a run with just Cody, there has always been at least one other guy every time. 1:04:17

(Hurricane-387 miles)