Every Race is an Adventure!

I ran a modified Eagles View with Will at noon today. Instead of going up the steep hill we continued north for a while before turning back. I didn't have my Garmin, but Will's showed a distance of around 5.75 miles and an average pace of 8:06. This included two long waits at traffic lights. Subtracting that time the pace was around 7:52.

The temperature was finally above 40. I wore shorts and no ear covering and it felt great. There were still a few icy spots in the shadows on the overpasses, but overall the roads were mostly dry. If we can string a number of these above freezing days together running conditions should improve considerably.

I ran solo this morning, easy 6.1 miles, average pace 8:42. It seems that building up my mileage while not aggravating the Achilles and PF is going to be a little tricky. The Achilles felt fine this morning, but the PF that hasn't bothered me for a while was back a little this morning. I'm icing it now  I really think new shoes will help, too. I went to buy some last week at MVP Sports in SF but my size was out of stock on the two styles I was interested in. If I have time at lunch today I may go to Runner's Corner and try out a few different styles.

Warning...potty talk ahead.

I took my 18 year old son in early this morning for a colonoscopy. He's complained of stomach pains for years and was recently diagnosed with IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome). This morning's procedure was basically just to rule out what isn't the cause, and his colon was normal and healthy.

Those of you familiar with the process know he had to fast yesterday, take some pills, and drink some awful tasting stuff to clean out his colon. Not too surprisingly, he was hungry on the way home. Although I don't think he had fully recovered from the anesthesia yet, he was conscious enough to say he wanted to stop at the Daylight Donuts shop we passed. I was a cook at a Daylight Donuts shop nearly 30 years ago, so we made a nostalgic stop.

I know none of you other runners eat donuts, but if you know a friend of a friend that eats donuts, I highly recommend Daylight Donuts. I was leaving for work a little late and hadn't had breakfast so I had donuts for breakfast. I was weak. They were really good. I can't remember if I had 3 or 4 as we talked before I left.

I paid for my indulgence, however, with a little IBS of my own during my noon run (pun intended). I could sense something was a bit off before the run so I ran around the back streets of East Bay so I wouldn't be too far from a restroom. I've already shared too much information, but I'll just say that this strategy paid off.

On a different note, today's run was also the maiden voyage of my new Saucony Trigons. It was only an easy run, 5.6 miles @ avg. 8:16/mi, but they felt really good. I wanted to keep running, but we have a church basketball game tonight so I chose not to overdo it.

This is an update after the basketball game...We only had 5 players show up, Austin, Jeff, my sons Andrew and Adam, and me, so we got plenty of playing time. The other team started with 10 players, then had an 11th show up at half time. We won the first half 35-34, but ran out of gas in the second half. I had a good night shooting, maybe a career high. I think I hit 3 for 3 from the 3-point line, and added a few other baskets. I actually don't remember missing a shot, but I might have. I had some pretty decent assists, too, but they were balanced out with a number of turnovers. I even remember getting a rebound...not too common for an old 5'7" guy that avoids the dangers of entering the key as much as possible. All in all, it was a whole lot of fun.

Fortunately, Karen said not to worry about Valentine's Day this year, because as of late last night I had no plans. Still, I like to surprise her with a little something so I was racking my brain to figure out what might really show my affection...that could be done at the last minute. I prayed for a little help, and got it I think.

My nephew has a type of skin cancer where he periodically has to have spots removed, mostly from his head. He and his wife have four small children, so sometimes Karen and the girls will babysit on the days he goes in. They live in Kearns but he comes to Utah Valley for the procedure. Today is one of those days. Karen's sister Leanne (from Arizona), the grandmother of these kids, also happens to be staying with us this week.

Anyway, as we were going to bed last night Karen commented that she felt uncomfortable with the small kids coming because the house was a little out of control. So I got up at 5:00am, but instead of running I spent 1.5 hours cleaning up the kitchen and main floor. She would have been content with that, but I had time before 7:00am so I ran to Macey's. They always have a good selection of Valentine's stuff for the last minute man. I kept my tradition of buying Karen a small plant. We both like to see how long we can keep it alive before it dies. The one last year lasted quite a while. I also spied some strawberries dipped in white chocolate. I got home just in time to put the plant and strawberries on the clean kitchen counter before I had to go wake up the kids. Karen was very appreciative. Every once in a while I get it right.

As for running, I only went 4 miles on the treadmill at work at noon. I started feeling a hot spot on my left foot, likely a remnant from last night's basketball game, so I decided to stop early rather than have to fight a blister.

It was interesting to read Terry's blog for yesterday.

http://oldbean.fastrunningblog.com/blog--Noon-run-Sunny-Temp-35-I-gave-/02-14-2008.html

He mentions foot pain from his new shoes, and his hopes that he won't have to take a sick day from running. I started wearing a new pair of Saucony Trigons this week. Yesterday afternoon I got up from my desk to go to a 3:30pm meeting and I felt a sharp pain in my left foot. I was limping so badly that a coworker asked if I had sprained my ankle. The pain comes and goes. This morning it felt much better, but I've decided to take "a sick day from running" and see how tomorrow's run goes.

On the first two outside runs the shoes felt great, with no side effects. As I think back to the treadmill run yesterday, I remember thinking that the left shoe felt like maybe I'd tied it a little too tight. I'll blame that for now and see how things go tomorrow.

I used to think that the "endurance" in being an endurance runner referred to hanging in there during a long hard run. I'm becoming convinced that maybe it refers more to hanging in there through all the training setbacks. There seems to be no limit to the things that can go wrong. I guess, as with the rest of life, the secret is to hang in there, focus on the positive, try not to make the same mistake too many times, and appreciate the good things and the good times. I think both Tom and Kim have made similar comments about focusing on the positive in recent blogs.

It also helps to put concerns in perspective. My sister-in-law is out of work. My nephew has to have skin cancer spots removed on a regular basis, and one of his young sons has already had to have some removed as well. Someone just confided in me this morning that his wife is divorcing him and trying to have him forcibly removed from his home. Suddenly a little foot pain seems pretty minor.

Enjoy the sun. Spring is just around the corner.

I woke up this morning undecided on whether I was going to run or not. I wasn't sure if Larry and Wayne would be running. Sometimes they head to St. George on long weekends, and we hadn't discussed our Saturday running plans like we normally do. When I checked the temperature and it was 10 degrees, and I waffled even more. I even discussed it with Karen, and we both agreed that it would be better to wait and run later when it was supposed to be warmer.

About 9:30am I happened to look out the window and saw Larry and Wayne walking by...cooling down after their run! I missed the camaraderie of running with them, but they looked pretty cold.

I ran some errands, including a trip to Home Depot and also to Sports Authority to buy some new compression shorts and a new running hat (identical to the Nike one I have and really like, but I needed another one to keep at work). I then returned home and (finally) strapped down our water heater, replaced a broken light fixture, and fixed a broken sink stopper in the bathroom.

When I finally got my errands and projects done it was about 3:30pm, sunny, and above freezing. Karen and her sister were at Costco so I decided it was a good time to run. I decided to run the 8 mile loop down to Costco and back, thinking I might see Karen on her way home along the way. A little over 3 miles into the run she passed me as I was heading south and she was heading north on 400 East.

I asked Karen later if it looked like I was running well. Like the good wife she is she said 'yes'. Actually, I felt pretty good the whole run. I ran it at around marathon pace effort, a good steady forward-moving pace but not pushing too hard. I ended up averaging 8:02/mi for 8.75 miles. Mile splits were: 8:10, 8:09, 7:57, 7:54, 8:11*, 8:01, 8:12*, 7:53, 0.75 miles in 5:48 (7:45/mi). The 8:11 was mostly all slight upgrade, the 8:12 mile included a long wait at a traffic light. I felt like I held a good pace the entire run, and could have kept going for a while. It was pretty encouraging. I could still feel the PF and Achilles lurking in the wings, but they stayed away, as did the sharp foot pain from Thursday. I iced my foot immediately after the run.

One day at a time.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do with myself tomorrow. The stake president is out of town so we are not having our normal meetings. I'll be able to attend my home ward, and nothing else. That will be nice. Of course, the next Sunday we have PEC, presidency meeting, and two ward conferences so I'll be going all day starting at 6:30am. At least it pays well (spiritually).

Tomorrow, apparently to cosmically balance my reduction in Sunday meetings, some of Karen's family are coming over in the evening for dinner and, since it's a holiday on Monday, will probably stay late into the night talking and playing games. Actually, it should fun...for as long as I am able stay awake.