Speed only kills if you don't have it!

Cold tough run on the canal road.  I ran into an 85 year old man walking his three dogs on my way home.  The dogs were nice dogs, unlike most around here.  He showed and told me about a couple of places where I could find petroglyphs.  I will have to check them out when there is a little less snow.  Lots of snow so it was slow going, eventhough I ran in snowmobil tracks most of the run.  7:39 average for the run.

(Kahana- 15 miles) 

In evaluating this year, I have to say it was a good year for me.  I hit over 2,300 miles, had some good races, and some fun times with many of you.   St. George was my greatest accomplishment, coming off of 4 weeks of pneumonia and still being able to run 2:33!  It was a long time goal for me to break 2:35, and was a sweet accomplishment for me.   Also winning the Ute Stampede 5k by over two minutes, in what is sometimes a hostile environment for me, was another sweet experience.     It has been a crazy year for me with a lot going on in my life.  I was blessed to have as much time as I did to train, and to stay as healthy as I did.  Last year I didn't even run 1,000 miles. Consistency was the key to my success this year and I hope to keep it up in 2008.  It should be a fun year with the racing team and the growing blog.  Happy to New Year to everyone!

I didn't get to bed until 3:00am so I slept until 10:00am today.  I am not a drinker but I still ended up with somewhat of a hangover, just from playing hard and getting to bed so late.  I went running about 11:00am on the canal road.  The snow seemed deeper that yester and there was a lot more ice.  About halfway through my run I needed to use the potty and couldn't find anywhere to go, and I didn't had any paper, oops!  I didn't feel like running a half mile down the mountain and knocking on someone's door, so I kept plugging along and luckily found a construction outhouse before things turned bad.  The run was slow but still a good workout.  7:58 ave. for the run.   I think this is the first time I have ever run on New Years day before, so I started out right, even with the emergency stop.

(Hardrock- 277 miles)

Mid-morning run on the snowy canal road.  I ran out to Sardine canyon and back, then decided to add on a couple more miles since I had the time.  I've had to start wearing sunglasses when I go running in the daylight because of the brightness of the snow.  I felt okay today, achilless was sore but nothing too bad.  I was glad to be done today.  I had a hard time talking myself out the door in the first place, but I got it done.  7:39 ave. per mile

(Kahana- 27 miles) 

My goals for the 2008 are simple:

*PR in all distances from 5k to marathon. 

*Sub 33:00 in a 10k

*Sub 1:11:00 in a half marathon

*Sub 2:30:00 in a marathon

*Get over my achilles tendonitis and stay injury free.

*Be even more consistent than last year with workouts and average two per week.

*2,500-3,000 miles

*Run at least 5 new races

*Cross train 3 days a week on top of my running

*Enjoy myself even more than last year.

Cold morning run. I ran out to the shotgun pits and back.  There was a lot of snow and ice.  I was in slow motion today and had a hard time ever getting into rhythm or feeling good.  The only real highlight of my run today was chasing about 5 deer down the road for a half mile. 58:20 (7:47 ave.)

I absolutely hate January and February, they are cold, dark, and uneventful months for me.  I try to find stuff to do and look forward to so they will pass by faster.  I am usually playing a lot of basketball and am either involved in intramurals, city league, or church ball.  This year because of where I live and my tendonitis that is a no go.  I hope that running Painter's and doing some other activities will be as good or better for me.  The good part about this January and February is I haven't let myself get completely out of shape like I usually do, so it isn't as hard to get out the door and run as in the past.

(Hardrock- 285 miles)

No run.   Got home from Logan and it was dark and the wind was crazy, probably 60mph stuff!  To make to short, the conditions were un-safe for running.  So I did 30 minutes on the stationary bike instead and watched "We are Marshall". 

I got up earlier than I normally on a Saturday to go running, it is amazing what you will do to run with someone else. I remember meeting Jon at 4:00am to run a 14 miler one time, before he flew out to Florida for a month, just so I could run with someone. This was back when Paul, Dave Nelson, and Ben were all injured and I was the only one in Logan running. This wasn't close to that extreme, but it was a little early for me this time of year.

The wind had let up but it had snowed and rained all night so there was about 2-3 inches of slush. I met Michelle Lowry at Maddox parking lot. She had dropped her kids off with her in-laws while She and her husband go to Hawaii, so she was in town. She was good company for a cruddy run. We did a loop around the east side of Brigham. It was quite adventurous with the nasty conditions, but we managed not to fall or get hit by a snow plow. I was soaking wet from head to toe after the first mile, so I didn't even care where I stepped after that. Michelle was a little more careful at first, but after we stepped in a couple of water holes around the golf course she started to do a little trail blazing too. We had to dodge the snow plows, and the piles they left along the side of the road, for the entire run. Although, it didn't really matter where we ran because it was all just one big sewer. I felt like I was running with Logan at times because we were running down the middle of the road and cars were honking and giving us the finger, it was great! The golf course was particularly fun running on because it was more like cross country skiing than running, it so so slick. However, the most eventful part of my run was trying to hold my 25lb. pair of track pants up from falling down around my ankles!

Michelle was fun to talk to and get to know better, and it was great to have somebody to run with in those conditions. She is a good runner, and I got a kick out of her telling me stories about her "manic personality", and some of her super competitive running buddies. I don't know if she had fun or not, but I did. I made her walk and cool down with me after our run, something she wasn't used to doing. So I lectured her on the importance of cooling down after exercise. She thought I was weird, but at least she didn't pepper spray me like she has threatened in the past! According to my Garmin we ran exactly 12 miles, but her's said 11.89 or something. This is the whole point of rounding mileage. When I run with Logan his Garmin usually reads longer than mine. She said that her Garmin read exactly what Sasha's did the other day, so I don't know? All I know is that we ran 12 miles with or with out the help of the satellite gods.

I was sopping wet when I got home so I got right out of my clothes and sat in a hot shower for 20 minutes. It will be a week before my shoes dry out. 1:35:25 (7:57 average)

(Kahana- 39 miles)