Speed only kills if you don't have it!

I did a 7 miler on the canal road south of Willard today.  It was hard to get going and I felt pretty sluggish at first.  After a couple of miles I didn't feel too bad and finished with some decent miles. I over dressed and got pretty warm, but it was a good run for being sick for a week and not running.   My achilles seems to be doing better with the week off and the hot/cold therapy.  I am hoping it will continue to get better. Hopefully I can get a few miles in this week, especially since I have more time being done with school and unemployed.  51:49

 (Hardrock- 247 miles)

I drove over to Ogden and ran with Logan tonight.  We did an out and back run over toward North Ogden.  Some of the course was similar to other runs we have done in that area, and there are some rolling hills.  It was good to run with Logan again because we haven't ran together since before Halloween.  In fact, I haven't run with anyone since that time.  We carried on some good conversation, mostly about the blog, track, and school.  We started slow and finished with a decent pace, about like I usually do since having tendonitis.  The pace was comfortable and was mostly in the upper 6:00s. 

We didn't have any animal problems but there were a lot of jerks on the road tonight.  One guy pulled right in front of us, started driving slow, stopped, and then spun out in the gravel trying to hit us with debris.  Neither one of us realized what was going on until it was too late or we might have ran him down.  Logan seemed a little more chapped about it than I was, probably because it happened on his turf.  Some people are just born to be losers and you have to feel sorry for them.  We didn't get hurt so I guess that is good, but I still get pretty fired up about things like that. 

See we don't usually have uneventful runs in Northern Utah, there is always something going on.  Good run, and good to run with Logan again.  I felt good for being on my second day of comeback.  The achilles was moderate tonight.  Any I finally got my gear, I really like the singlet!    1:08:55 

(Omni- 271 miles)

AM-  An easy 8 miles on the canal trail that wasn't so easy.  It had snow a skiff of snow and has been warm because of the storm that was coming, so the canal road I ran on was a big sewer hole.  It was sloppy, sloppy, sloppy!  I was soaked and muddy and it felt like I was running with 20lbs. ankle weiights on.  I ran naked today (no watch) so I was not sure of pace, but I was lucky if it was just under 8 minute miles.  Glad to get it done.

 (Hardrock- 255 miles)

PM-  Easy run around golf course and cemetery in Brigham City.  It was getting dark so I made it short.  There are some good hills around that area.  5 miles in 36:20  This is my first two-a-day since St. George.  I will try to do at least one per week from now on.

(Kayano- 5 miles)

No run.  The weather was horrible this morning and got worse as the day went on.  The wind, rain, and snow gave me a good excuse to rest the achilles.  Bad blizzard this afternoon and evening.

Oooooooooh whaaaat a run!  The blizzard last night left about 5-6 inches of powder on the ground.  With the cold wind and unplowed roads any place to run was as good as the other.  I went into Brigham City on the canal road, through the golf course, to the cemetery, and back.  It was hard, hard, hard!  I was running up and down those rollers in 6 inches of powder the whole run.  After I ran my first mile in 10:30 into that bitter north wind I was wondering why the heck I was even attempting to run.  No one or nothing had been on any part of the road so I was breaking trail the whole way.  It is funny how you can talk yourself into believing things, because I was telling myself the whole first half how much fun I was having and that I would be glad I did it.  It was not fun, but about half way through the run I had talked myself into thinking it was.  I was working super hard the entire run, but was lucky to run under 9:00 pace.  My shoes were frozen and so were my pant upto my knees.  I was hammered when I got done, but was glad I did it.  It was one of my top 5 harfdest training runs that I remember, the hardest by far being running the Grand Canyon rim to rim in 4 hours.  I am recovered now but it was a toughy today!  I do pat myself on the back for this one today, I wouldn't wish the conditions on anyone, except it is great for cross country skiing, minus the sub zero wind temps!   1:26:51

 (Hardrock- 265 miles)

It was very very cold this morning!  I decided to run the canal road south this morning after changing my mind several times as to where I would run.  I decided that trail blazing through 3-4 inches of snow was better than running on icy streets.  I bundled up pretty warm and was glad I did, because I never got hot or felt overdressed.  Pretty slow and hard, not as bad as yesterday, but enough to keep me at over 9:00 pace for the first 6 miles.  Logan would have hated it!  I ran into a herd of deer about a mile into my run and chased them for 3 miles on the road.  I wasn't really chasing them, they just kept running in the same direction as I was.  There aren't many things dumber than a herd of deer in this world, but a guy running on a mountain road in 5 inches of snow when it is 5 degrees outside comes close!  I don't know if 20 sets of deer tracks in the snow helped or hindered me?  I ended up running the cold 10 miles in 1:24:24 (8:27 ave.)

(Adrenaline-476 miles)

The best part about today was I hit 50 miles for the week, something that I haven't done since St. George.  I hope to stay around that mileage for a couple of months.