Rhett

82 days

AM.  My legs were still sluggish and a bit sore from Friday's run this morning so I kept it nice and easy and as I went along my legs seemed to feel better and better. 8 miles.

PM. 2 miles playing soccer and I didn't even injure myself this time!!!

81 days 

Lunch. My last patient of the morning canceled so I had extra time and did a 3 mile walk. 
 

PM. I ran the Monolith Garden Loope or at least attempted to. About 3 miles in my hammy started giving me grief. I tried to run more but it wouldn't let me so I walked back for a total of 6 miles. I'm frustrated with it. I guess i didn't escape soccer last night without aggravating it. I'm just going to have to stop playing soccer if I want to be healthy for running. 😡

80 days

AM. It's frustrating that I keep injuring my left hammy playing soccer and now I can't run.  I have come to grips with it though and am going to stay on the bike for a few days.  I did my OP core work this morning then rode to bike trainer for 20 minutes.  

79 days

AM. OP core workout. Then rode my bike to work. Work is only 3 miles from my home but I took a ride on the way and ended up doing 21 miles. 

PM. Since I rode to work I had to ride home as well. I took the 5 mile route on the way home. 
 

I really enjoyed riding to and from work today. I'll have to do that more often. With my hammy still sore, I'm going to do a long ride tomorrow instead of a long run. 

78 days

OP core workout. Then a 5 hours ride on a picture perfect morning. I made it 81 miles with almost 5000 ft elevation gain. 

77 days 

I had a lot going on this morning so wasn't able to get out for a run until about 2:30 this afternoon. My legs were tired but not sore from my ride yesterday. I decided to make it a run/hike desert adventure. I did a lot of climbing and hiking on non-runnable trails which was fine since it was a sunny warm afternoon and I didn't feel like just running. I ended up doing a 3 1/2 hour adventure that was almost 16 miles and had about 2400 ft elevation gain. I drank all 120 ounces of electrolyte fluid I had and was still parched when I got home. 

11 weeks

Weekly review 

The week ended up being very different than I thought it would be. Monday night I injured my hammy again playing soccer so I ended up cycling a lot this week. I rode 106 miles plus did the bike trainer once. I did get in 35 miles running also. I thought I'd get around 50. Maybe this upcoming week I'll get over 50. I tried to refocus on my core work as well but only did it 3 days. I really want to do it 6 days a week but something always comes up. 

75 days

AM. 10 easy miles through SARA Park. It's starting to warm up. I'm going to have to start taking water with me even on my early morning runs. Legs felt really good today!!!!

PM. OP core workout while watching college bball. 

74 days

Lunch. About a 1 1/2 mile walk. It was insanely windy. 
 

PM. 8 mile run on Monolith Garden Loop. It was still windy but not as bad as lunchtime. 

I did my OP core work while watching the BYU/Gonzaga game.  The Cougs gave them their best shot, but the Zags are just really, really good this year.

73 days

AM. I did my OP core work then rode to work this morning. 20 miles.

PM. 5 mile ride home then sat in the hot tub for a while after dinner. 

72 days

AM. I woke up with plans to do a 6 mile run followed by 2 miles of 200 m sprints.  I took the run easy and was feeling good but on the last couple miles, my right calf started feeling off so I decided not to do the sprints at the end.  Now my right calf definitely feels mildly strained.  I wish I knew why these calf issues keep popping up suddenly.  I didn't even run yesterday. Anyways, I'll monitor it and see how it feels tonight and tomorrow morning before I decided what to do tomorrow for my long effort.  Maybe I'll have to bike.

PM.

71 days

I wasn't sure what I was going to do when I got up today so I started with my OP core workout and then checked the weather. It looked beautiful outside and I had the whole day with nothing planned so I decided to do a BRICK workout. I haven't done one of those in years since I did my last triathlon. I first rode 50 miles pushing hard then had the world's longest transition, probably 30+ minutes, then headed out on the trails and did a 20 mile run. I was surprised how good I felt all the way to the end and whatever was up with my calf yesterday didn't bother me at all today. 

10 weeks 

Weekly review 

Since I knew I was going to be traveling all day Saturday, I tried to squeeze a lot in 5 days. I ended up running 45 miles,  biking 75 miles and getting in 4 core workouts. The best part is, I felt great at the end of it. I think my slow build up in miles both running and cycling is paying off. 
 

Tomorrow I can sign up for the Jemez Mountain 50 miler I'm planning on doing on my birthday. Hopefully I get in. 
 

I'm not sure what this week will bring as I will not be doing my normal routine since it is spring break. I don't have my bike and there are absolutely no hills here. Probably just a lot of flat running. 

68 days

I spent the morning and early afternoon running and playing on the beach with my boys. I'm going to give myself 2 miles for that but I'm sure I did more. Then I went on an actual run and logged 8 very flat and very humid miles. 

Registration for the Jemez Mountain 50 opened today and I was able to sign up! I'm very excited for this race. 

67 days

Another day of running and playing on the beach with my boys (I'll take 2 miles for that.) Then I did 4 easy miles running on the sand right by the water were it is packed hard. 

66 days 

10 mile morning run on the beach. It was super foggy. Then I got in at least 2 miles with all the beach activities with my boys. Unfortunately we were playing soccer and I hurt my groin again. I'll be able to run, it will just hurt. 

65 days 

As expected, my groin really hurt this morning so I kept the pace nice and easy but still got in 10 miles on a really windy and cool day. 

63 days

Yesterday was a travel day so I didn't get in any exercise. I got up for the Saturday morning group ride this morning though. Not many showed up. It was just Craig and I. He is such a strong climber. Whenever he decides, he turns it up a notch and drops me on the long steep climbs. Luckily he shows me mercy and waits for me. We ended up doing 45 miles with around 2500 feet elevation gain. 

9 weeks 

Weekly review 

This past week I was with my family on South Padre Island in Texas. We had a great time playing and relaxing on the beach. I did squeeze in a run each day and was very active each day playing in the beach, but it wasn't my usual 3rd week of a training cycle, so I'm going to do a hard week this upcoming week and then do my recovery week the next week. 
Going forward, I am got to run based on time instead of distance. I'll still record what I've done in miles but I'm hoping the change in mindset helps me keep my pace nice and easy. I figure when I do my 50 mile race I won't be going fast and by keeping my pace slower I hopefully will prevent injury. I'll start with 90 minutes tomorrow morning and see how it goes. I also want to keep building on my cycling where I do want to try and get faster. 

61 days

AM. The plan was an easy 90 minute run and easy it was.  I was just going at a nice slow pace right from the start, but a few miles in my right calf just didn't feel right, so I slowed down even more.  I had to play with my running form.  I found that if I switched to a heal strike I felt better,  so I ran the second half of my run with a serious heal strike.  I feel like I didn't do any damage and hopefully tomorrow it will be fine.  I hadn't run since last Thursday, so I was very surprised that I this popped up again. Anyways I only did a little over 9 miles in my 90 minutes today.

PM. I am feeling exhausted tonight and my calf is a bit tight so I just did some foam rolling and light core work while watching hoops. 

60 days

Lunch. I had a little longer lunch than usual so I was able to get in 3 miles walking. 
 

PM. 7 miles on the Monolith Garden Trail after work. My calf didn't feel perfect but it felt better than yesterday so I'll take that as a good sign. And, I didn't have to alter my usual running form. 

59 days

AM.  I'm trying to mix it up, so I did a weighted vest hike/jog this morning on the trails. I climbed up on the ridge going up a different way than usual and got a bit lost trying to navigate getting back down.  It was nice morning adventure.  Ended up getting in 6 miles with over 1000 ft elevation gain.

58 days

AM. I rode my bike to work today...30 miles.  It was a bit windy so half of the ride was tough.  Hopefully it is not to blustery on my way home this evening.

PM. 5 mile ride home uphill and into a strong headwind. 

57 days

I wanted to get in a long run at elevation today, so I drove to the Hualapai's fir my run. The ground was covered with fresh snow and it was still snowing hard when I got there. I thought twice about heading out into it but decided I needed to train in bad conditions since it could be snowing on race day. Luckily I had checked the forecast last night and had the appropriate gear with me. I did 15 miles out and then back on a very hilly Jeep road that with a max elevation just over 7000 feet and a minimum elevation just under 6000 feet. My Garmin says I had a total of just over 8500 feet elevation gain during the 30 mile run and boy did it feel like it. I was spent when I finished. It snowed almost the whole run which took 5 hours 26 minutes. It was like running in a snow globe!

56 days

I decided not to join the Saturday morning group ride fearing that I would push too hard and injure myself after yesterday's 30 mile run in the mountains. Instead I got up and did some church things in the morning then went out to lunch with my family. I was feeling really good so I decided to go out for an afternoon ride with no specific plan. Luckily I took my credit card, because I felt great and just kept riding but hadn't brought enough fuel. I stopped about halfway at a convenience store to load up and ended up riding 52 miles. 

8 weeks

Weekly review 

I am finally starting to feel the rewards of my training effort and like I will be ready to run my ultra on May 22nd. I got in 55 miles running this week with a 30 miler at altitude with a lot of elevation gain. I also cycled 87 miles this week doing a 52 miler the day after the 30 mile run and feeling strong. Today was m not feeling any real soreness or tired muscles. It will be interesting to see how my legs feel tomorrow morning when I actually run again.

Now that I got in a nice solid long week I will do a recovery week this week.  It works out perfectly since I'll be up in Utah skiing with Chase on Friday and Saturday  

54 days

AM. I ran to work nice and slow at a recovery effort this morning going up and around to get here. Did 11 miles with about 1000 feet elvevation gain.

PM. 3 miles probably a little too fast but still easy effort on the way home from work. 

53 days

I slept in this morning to better recover from my double yesterday. It felt good. 
 

Lunch. 2 mile walk during lunch. Legs felt solid so I'm excited to get up in the mountains after work to play on the trails and get in some vert. 

PM. A little over 7 miles up in the mountains maxing out around 8300 ft with 2300 feet elevation gain. It was a lot of fun but the trails were still icy and slippery so I had to take it slow. 

52 days

AM. 27 mile bike ride to work on a windy morning.  The wind made for some really fast segments on strava, conversely it made for some really slow ones also.

PM. 5 mile ride home from work.  I haven't actually done this yet at the time I'm writing this, but I'll have to get home and the 5 mile route is the one I'm going to take.  Hopefully the wind will still be blowing out of the north like this moring and I'll be flying.