On the road to BOSTON!

Report latter when I can talk about this brutally hot race-

Went for a short 3 mile bike ride after

2 very ugly miles-

Well, it was too nice outside to not run. Low 50's and cloud cover. I ran over to Bloomington Hills to see the finish of the Half marathon and 5k for the Senior Games. Talked to Aaron Metler for awhile about the marathon.

Ended up helping out at the finish line as the runners came in. Times were slow this year. I am upset for not manning in up and running the 10k and Half. Both of them I would have placed 1st in the age group. The Half would have been a 2nd place. not much competition this year with some of the elites not running.

Had a good run. Ended up running 7:48 average including warmup. Legs are feeling good so recovery is well on the way.

Decided to give a midnight run a try. No pressure, just go have some fun. The legs were feeling pretty good, just didn't have much speed in them.

The first mile has gradual uphill to it which I wasn't liking much (7:24) the second mile finally had some gradual down to it but I wasn't in the mood to push very hard- just maintain a good pace. (7:00) The third mile was all over the place up stairs, down stairs, kind of crazy. Lots of 90 degree turns everywhere on this course. (6:49) The race ended on the track for 1/2 lap (6:19) A girl came by me..."on your left"....go ahead! I didn't want to get in a hard run to the finish with her...she won under 18 year olds.

Check this out, the age groups: up to 18, 18-54, 54 and up! Sure, run against the young guys.....Nate Bundy won with 18:50sh

Now that the race is over, I almost talked myself into going out for a run at 2am but sleep sounds even better!

20 mile bike ride. Legs are somewhat weak but feel pretty good. Running start in the morning- get ready for the Snow Canyon Half

Nice controlled steady run.Went out late morning with just a small glass of water, no breakfast. Trying to run without an energy source in the belly to help me learn to dig down deep for energy. Run went good, not great. Energy level tapered down towards the end. Last 1 1/2 miles I was feeling the lake of energy...thats okay, learning to work through it! 8:20 average pace. Ran from home to Bloomington Hills Park to get a drink and then back. I ran into David Smith an chatted for a few minutes and about 1/2 mile. Then ran into Clyde the glide and chatted.

Beautiful cool sunning Fall morning in St. George!

Easy- steady 5 1/2 miles without taking breaks. Trying to run without effort. 8:20 average pace

late morning run on the trail to I-15 over the bridge up the hill and return. I am trying out the ChiRunning method today. I got the book last night and started reading. Learning some good things.Took the shoes off for a mile of the running-  8:00 average pace

19 mile bike ride this morning-

11 miles running from home up to the Tabernacle in town and home. Had a good spill on a dirt section by Stadium 6. Ouch! Road rash down the entire leg......8:24 average pace

Late morning run- waited until my Boston Registration was complete. This took forever. 1 1/2 hours of repeated filling out the form then you hit submit and it would return to the same page. Finally I found another link that worked!  7 1/2 muggy miles @ 8:29 pace

3 faster miles this morning- 7:51( 1/2 mile warmup) / 6:45/ 6:45

3 miles on the save a sister 5k course. Lots up hills. Not going to be a PR that is for sure- 7:27 average pace

Same run as yesterday on the Save a Sister 5k course. I really don't like the course. Too many hills to attempt a PR. Today I ran the 3 miles at 6:54 average pace. I did stop a few times to catch my breath and stopped my watch. So this was actual running time only. I would be thrilled if I could race it tomorrow at this pace without stopping...fat chance of that happening.

Ran the Save a Sister 5k this morning. Much tougher course that previous years. Ran a 21:41 which I know I could have done better. My cardio sucks right now! I had to stop a few times and walk, couldn't keep the pace going. When I was running I did well just couldn't hold it. Mostly it was all the climbing for about a mile after the half way point. Ended up 5th overall and 1st in age so that is okay. I should have taken 3rd with a little more push....18 seconds was the difference between 5th and 3rd.

It was a very muggy morning with cloud cover after all the rain last night.

Now it is time to get ready for the Snow Canyon Half in a couple of weeks- Would like to run a sub1:30 but I am not sure if that is doable right now. I will go out and have some fun and see what happens

Early morning run around Bloomington Drive. Went out purposely to run slow and consistent, no stopping. Ended up feeling very good about the run running a bit faster each mile. Still only ran a 8:57 average but that was okay because I didn't want to run faster, just keep it going. I could have gone much farther at that pace for sure. I am trying to get myself in the mode of running without getting myself burned out too early. The 5k on Saturday showed me that I either am too weak mentally or I am going out too fast and paying the price at the end.

Well this week is going to be the start of training for Snow Canyon Half- Mesquite Full. Have 12 days to Snow Canyon and 26 to Mesquite.

Went for an early morning-dark run. It was the first 'cold' day since I can remember. I headed out then turned back for the gloves and hat. Ran over to the Bloomington Hills Park and back. Again today I was concentrating on running not speed. I got the run in without walking at all. Felt strong for the whole run. I need to get this 'endurance' part of running down so that I can then move into speeding it up. Ran the 7.65 miles at 8:52 pace. The last half was faster then the second have but still not fast at all.

I think that I should be doing more runs like this so that my body can adapt better to races.

Another slow consistent run. Went over past Deseret Hills High then River Road past the Post office and trail to home. No stopping along the way today. It didn't feel as cold but I think it was about the same as yesterday...I was better prepared. Average pace a little over 9:00 but that is okay, slow and steady to build the confidence up on the distance runs.

Waited till the sun was up to run, went out at 9am and ran over Tonaquint past St. George Ford to the traffic light then went left on Blackhills drive then back over Tonaquint. Keep a steady pace the whole run, no stopping again. That is four runs in a row with no stopping....major accomplishment for me. The pace continues to be slow but I am feeling stronger on the runs and know that I am doing some good. 8:39 pace- harder run than Tuesday, same effort and faster time.

Ran from home to Sun River over to River Road to the Chevron at Bloomington Hills then over to the path to Bloomington and home. Non-stop run! That makes 5 great non-stop runs for the week. They were slow but consistent.Toady was only 9:20 pace but 2 1/2 hours without taking a break is good for me. I did encounter some neuromas pain in my right foot...I would have gone for 20 miles except for that pain. The legs feel great and had much more int them. I fueled up this morning with 1 glass of water. Had 2 small drinks on the run, one at 12 and the other at 15. Should have taken water but oh well!

This is one of the best weeks of running I have had in a very long time. Taking the pace a little slower has made the training more enjoyable and actually made me feel like I was a runner. Next Saturday will be the test to see if I can move the consistency with some speed at Snow Canyon.