St. George Running Center - Run For Life.

I have been really bad at entering my blog lately. We have had so much that has been going on between trying to get our house ready for the closing and starting up The St. George Running Center. I've decided not to go back and guess on my runs and just try to be more diligent at posting. This morning I went out and did a really easy 5 out on the desert reserve. Yesterday morning I went and had a massage to try to loosen up my hips a little and last night I went out on a light run. I'm really excited about the marathon. I think I'm going to spend some time tonight after the club workout planning my stratagy for the marathon.

What a crazy race. Here's a quick recap of my 2006 St. George Marathon. I'll finish up the rest when I have more time.

1. 6:25 - started with Bill and Dustin.

2. 6:35 - Decided to hang back a little from Bill and Dustin and try to conserve.

3. 6:35 - Hooked-up with Joe Peterson of St. George. He said he was planning on hitting the half in 1:26.

4. 6:21 - Just cruising along into Brookside.

5. 6:23

6. 6:07 - Still running with Joe Peterson down into Veyo. I could still see Bill but had lost sight of Dustin by this point

7. 6:42 - Tried to conserve going up the Veyo hill. I noticed that I was starting to gain on Bill and ended up passing him in the middle of the hill.

I could tell something wasn't right with him.

8. 6:42 - Kept "drafting" and hanging on to other people over the crest of the hill. Started to stomach issues and felt like I might need to stop for a pit stop.

9. 7:08 - Tried to ignore the stomach and still feeling like I was recovering from Veyo hill.

10. 6:42 - Started Feeling Good again thought I had my stomach under control through Dammeron Valley

11. 8:00 - My Stomach started acting up again and couldn't settle it down. So I made a visit to the water stop Bathroom and did my #2 business.

12. 6:30 - Started feeling much better after the bathroom stop. I realized that I was off a little from where I wanted to be for the half by about 1-1:30 min. tried to make-up for some lost time.

13. 6:30 - Came across the 1/2 at about 1:26. I was hoping Bill would catch-up so we could run together. Looked over my shoulder to see where he was but couldn't find him.

14. 6:20 - Decided it was time to start kicking it into gear for the last half. I was feeling really good.

15. 6:02 - Really started feeling energized and excited for getting the time I wanted. Passing a ton of people.

16. 6:02 - Going past Snow Canyon gave a little more of a boost with all the people clapping. I continued to pass people.

17. 6:01 - Started to feel a little tightness in my calves. Didn't think too much about it. Still feeling really good and thinking I was really going to pull off my time. I was anxious to get past Winchester so I didn't have to think about anymore hills.

18. 6:02 - Calves became a little more tight and I started to get a little concerned. So I cut back a notch while running up the Winchester/ Ledges hill.

By the time I got to the top and at mile marker 19 I needed to stop and stretch.

I was pretty upset at the time about my situation.

Something must have happened to my watch after 19 because I don't have any split times. It doesn't really matter because you can just assume the splits were between 8-12 min miles. I cramped pretty hard about 19.5 and never fully recovered.

After getting into St. George and turning on the diagonal I heard Clyde on the radio while passing Fab. Freddies. He was talking about his time at Boston and how he really wanted to improve. It was pretty exciting to hear. I then started wondering where Bill was. I was surprised he hadn't passed me yet and assumed something must have happened. By the time I reached 300 West he caught up to me and we ran together down 300 W. I tried keep the speed but my legs just kept cramping. I really wanted to cross the line with him and felt pretty disappointed I wasn't able to hold on.

Overall I wasn't too happy about my race. I think the only thing I could have done differently was train better and possibly not drop my mile splits as much as I did after the first 1/2. If I would have held back and maintained 6:30 pace I might not have cramped like I did.

I just felt so good and really wanted to utilize the downhill and make-up time from my slow first half and my bathroom stop.

I'm really anxious to get recovered, start my training cycle again and set some new goals for the end of 2006 and 2007.

Recovery Day!

Did an easy 5 mile run in the Desert Reserve this morning. Felt good to get out and get the legs moving. I'm still a little sore in the calves and hips.

Didn't get a morning or evening run in today.

went out for an easy three this morning. Feeling great. Calves still a little tight.

I plan on running with the group tonight at 6pm.

Went out another 4 with Bill and Dave. We went from Worthen park out around Dixie College and back to the park. Just took it easy and talked about Sat's race - what we could have done different, how we felt, etc.

Kendra and Mik'l also came and ran for 20 min. I'm so excited for them getting out and running together. Kendra said they are thinking about running the Painter's 5k in Jan.

Ran my Desert Reserve loop from the house. I love that loop, it's so peaceful and quite out there in the mornings. I felt pretty good. However, with about .75 of a mile left I started getting my patent knee pain. I should have spent a little time stretching out before I took off. I also was pushing it a little for about 2 miles before the pain came on. I just slowed down and took it easy back to the house.

Looking forward to the run tomorrow at 7 with the guys.

Started out for an 8 miler and started having problems with my right calf and decided to turn around.

Spent the night stretching and massaging my calf and legs. My IT bands were pretty tight as well.

Went out this morning on a nice easy/ 5 mile slow run. I wanted to make sure my calf was ok. Luckly I didn't have any problems. I'm hoping to get out again tonight. Went out for another 3 tonight. It was nice getting out and blowing off some steam. Calf felt great, no problems. Today during my runs I was thinking about goal setting for the upcoming months. The guys in the club have been talking about running the Valley Of Fire Marathon and for some dumb reason I'm thinking it might be fun. The elevation chart gives me a nose bleeds just looking at it, but it will be good having that a goal close by to stay focused and work toward. Work on the St. George Running Center is progressing well and we're excited to get it stocked and opened up soon. And of course I'm excited about getting some sweet gear.

Didn't get out this morning.

Wasn't able to run with the club this evening because Kendra went out with here Mother tonight. I ended up getting in an easy 5 or so in the Reserve before she left.

Went out with the club and ran the T-Bone trail extended past the water tower, down to Middleton and back to Chuckawalla.

About 6.5 miles into the run I my knee started hurting and I had to stop, stretch and walk back to the road. Clyde found me walking/jogging on the road about 1.5 miles from Chuckawalla Trail head.

I Google-Earthed the route and found that I had run about 7 miles before I cut off and head back. I looked like I walk/jogged about 3.5 miles to where Clyde picked me up on the road. So I guess I'll must call the run 8 miles.

Went out for a morning run. Felt Pretty good. Spent about 45 min. stretching last night and some more time this morning before I went out. I just wanted to make sure my knee didn't start acting-up. However, about 3.5 miles into the run it started to tighten up on me. So, I stopped and stretched for a while and it seemed to be OK after that.

Pushed the pace on and off. I figure I had about 3 miles at marathon pace 2 easy miles.

I hope to get out and get another run in this evening.

This morning I went in for a massage but I was about 15 min late so he wasn't able to work on my knee issue as much as I wanted him to. He was able to work on a few issues in my hips, calves and hams. Morning Run 10 miles. Ran from the house over the Desert Reserve to the entrance of Snow Canyon and back to the house on the paved bike path. I felt pretty good until mile 7 and my knee started acting up again. So I had to stop and stretched a few times and even walk a few times the last 3 miles. Came home and spent about 15 min stretching. Evening Run - Hill Repeats - .30 mile hill - Elevation at Start 2829ft, Finish Elev. 3038 - Started with a mile warm-up 1. 1:51 - Started off feeling pretty fast and thinking I was a freak-en animal. After the first .15 the hill incline doubles and by the end of the .30 my lungs were burning like crazy. 2. 1.55 - Confidence was lacking a little after knowing how I felt at the end of the first hill. Knee started acting up coming back down the hill a little stopped and stretched. 3. 1.51 - Started feeling like I had a better grasp on what to expect and tried pushing it a little harder. Had to stretch the knee a little more. 4. 1:50- Went all out and it felt great. jogged back to the house and stretched.

Easy 5 this morning out in the desert reserve.

Ran with the club from the Park to Web Hill then down a single track trail I hadn't been on before to the paved bike trial, across the Virgin River, Santa Clara river and back to the park. Total run was about 9.25 miles.

Cruised the first miles until we hit "THE HILL" and I thought I was going to blow chunks the last 200M of the 1 mile hill. My legs were feeling pretty heavy and my body temp was really heating up. Then took it easy down the the bike path and across the river. We all started picking it up a bit about 100M before we turned on 700S. from Main st. Then from there we basically just chased down Clyde for a little more than a mile.

I'm feeling pretty good. However, even though my weight is dropping I still feel heavy when I run. What if I get down to my goal weight and I still feel the same way? Would that mean I have some psycho-mental weight issue illness?

Ran with the Club this morning from the Dixie Center. Went over and around Bloomington and over into Bloomington Hills. Bill and I ended up cutting back by Flying J. Bill wanted to take it easy because of his calf and I was nervous my knee was going to start acting up due to it being cold and not stretching very well before we started the run. Sure enough after Bill and I turned off my knee started tightening up.

I guess we were keeping a 6:50-7:15 pace according to navigator Dave.

Nice 5 miles this morning in the Desert Reserve. Was able to make a couple phone calls while on my run. I felt pretty efficient.

I'm planning on doing some mile repeats tonight. If anybody is interested let me know.

Ran mile repeats with Clyde at Worthen Park. Small warm-up then started the intervals. I think I should have warmed-up a bit more.

1. 5:21 - Felt pretty good the first 1/2 then going up the hill on the 2nd 1/2 I felt my lungs start to burn. After 1/4 cool down HR was 27 for 10 sec. I didn't start until it was down to 21 so it took a little while. By the time I was down to 21 Clyde was at 16.

2. 5:58 - At 1/4 my trap door was letting loose and I was having a hard time keeping the latch shut. My body just isn't used to being pushed like this. Pretty disappointed. After going to the bathroom and running 1/4 cool down my HR still at 26. Waited a little longer and it only went down to 24, Clyde was at 16. So I told Clyde to go ahead an I'd catch him on the second 1/2.

3. 800M - 2:37 Felt OK, I would of had a hard time pushing that on a mile. Clyde passed me the last 50M. My legs just wouldn't turn over.

Intervals suck, but they serve a great purpose. I'm looking forward to tracking my improvements. Last track season I took my nephew and helped him with some intervals on the same loop at Worthen Park. I would have him do 4 with a 600M cool down, and he would pump out 5:12, 5:15, 5:17, 5:12.