Every Run is a Great Run!

Ran 10 miles with Kim along the Streets-of-SF hills route on a cool, crisp, breezy but great for running morning. Yesterday a few hours after the run I started feeling a little weird pain on the inside of my right leg just below the knee. So I was a little nervous about the run today but all went well and it's feeling better. Just don't want to end up with the same injury as Terry B. I think I'll be OK if I don't do any more extra-speedy striders trying to keep up with my fast-twitch-queen running partner :-)

9:24/138

Nice easy recovery run with Kim, mostly on the river trail by the ballparks. I think I'll bag the XT today and rest tomorrow just to play it safe with the bit of pain/twinge I've felt this week below my right knee on the inside. I felt great today running so I think I'm fine at slower pace, but can still feel it when I straighten my leg and turn/stretch it certain ways. Want to be good and rested for the planned 20-miler on Saturday down Provo river trail.

9:25/128

Every run is a great run but today's 20-miler was greater than most!  Kim and I took 2 vehicles, left one at Utah Lake and drove the other up to South Fork Park and headed down the canyon in the dark and cold, both of which went away soon thereafter.  We got on the trail at Vivian then ran to Bridal Veil, then up the road (ala Provo River 1/2 marathon style) 1.5 miles uphill and into the wind and than back down the trail, all the way to the lake.

This is a downhill run but much less steep than the Payson canyon run last week and much kinder to the legs and safer, but also less step than SGM.  Kim was really feeling it today and running very 'smooth' (in following with Brent's suggestion) and we both still had a good amount amount of gas in the tank at the end.

We were also very pleased that the injury/problem areas stayed happy (Kim - ITB, me - feet and various -itis's). We both agreed that we felt better after this our longest-run-of-the-year than after any of our other 15+ mile long runs.

Life is good. Now time for a nap,  huge meal, then watching BYU football game with some of my siblings and their fams. Go Cougs!!!

9:17/140

Enjoyed sleeping in this morning and doing the easy 6-miler in the sun on a cool, crisp almost-fall morning. I think Kim especially enjoyed the sleep-in after being up past midnight wrestling with my youngest daughter's pesky loose tooth! See Kim's blog for details.

We both seemed to have recovered very nicely from the 20-miler on Saturday. Still can't exactly pinpoint exactly why that run went so well compared to most long runs, hopefully a sign that all the earlier consistent training has kicked in and Kim is approaching a peak at just the right time for SGM. We'll be doing a similar run this Friday so we'll see if it was a fluke.

My inside-leg-below-knee discomfort is nearly gone. I'll stay conservative this week just to not push my luck, also then we'll have the last of the 20+ runs out of the way.  All other areas of the legs/feet are feeling fabulous.

Did 4 conservative strides during today's run. My fast-twitch endowed partner was kind and kept things mellow this time. Have a good Labor Day everyone!

9:28/136

Ran our streets-of-SF hills 10-miler. Pretty chilly and very windy!! BRRRRR!!! Quite enjoyed the long hot shower afterward, didn't want to ever get out.

9:38/138

Six nice and easy in the morning. Much warmer than the last couple of days but mega-windy!! Later went to the gym for 40-min XT.

Today was an optional day. Didn't set the alarm or anything but woke up around 5 and couldn't seem to get back to sleep so got up. Noticed it was pretty warm and no wind so decided to go out and do 3 miles. Later went to gym at work for standard 40 min XT workout.

8:08/163

Ran a repeat of last Saturday's 20-miler down Provo Canyon with Kim and a friend/co-worker of hers. Another great run. Check out Kim's blog for more details. Always nice to have the last 20+ miler out of the way and start thinking taper. Should be a fun time down in SG!

9:20/142

Brrr chilly morning! Felt more like late October or November. Kim and I helped with the SF 1/2 marathon but managed to get in a few miles during quiet times.  Ran 3 with Kim and 2 solo. Can't believe how good my legs feel today after the 20 yesterday. Not much different than any other day. This is a GOOD thing.

AM: Ran 6 with Kim around the river bottoms on a cool but pleasant morning. Did 5 strides along the way.

9:19/147

Late AM: Didn't feel like doing XT in the boring gym, it looked much more appealing to run in the sun so I did! A bit warm but still nice. Just tried to run what felt natural and ended up in the 8-8:30 range.

I'm at the point in the PF rupture injury rehabilitation where I think I can move to the next step in the feet strengthening process which is to do just a bit of barefoot running on grass. Ran just over a minute today and felt great. Assuming it doesn't make things worse I'll gradually work up to 2 miles barefoot on grass, once or twice a week until it gets too cold.

8:12/169

Not sure what is up with my high HR today. Guess the heat played a role on the 2nd run but the 147 ave HR this morning is odd. I'll have to keep my eye on that and make sure I'm not overtraining,  but outside of the high HR I feel just dandy.

Ran 6 miles solo this morning as Kim ran later after taking our Japanese good friend Aoi to the airport. Aoi has been staying with us just over a week during school break (she is going to BYU-Hawaii) and it was great to have her with us.  A great kid with a bright future in store.

Later went to the gym for 40 min of various XT fun.

8:26/158

Time for our weekly streets-of-SF hills run. In the spirit of easing into taper mode we only went 9 instead of 10. Next week we'll maybe do 7 or 8.  Not a bad morning for a Sept run, a little chilly to start and of course the SF wind but no complaints. Kim was really charging up the hills today, Veyo will be nothing but a little blip for her this year I'm thinkin. 

9:30/145

HR still seems a little on the high side. Go figure.

Ran 3 this morning solo as it's a rest day for Kim. A bit cooler and very windy! Wanted to get the wind over with so I ran straight into it 1.5 miles then enjoyed the tail wind back. Sped up enough the last mile to count as MP. Nice to see my HR being a little more normal today.

8:08/156

Later went to the gym for 30 min various XT, then 1 mile easy run ending with 2 minutes of barefoot grass running. Felt great, had happy feet/legs when I was done. Hopefully I'll be smart and not overdo it.

Today my oldest daughter turns 13. We've survived 3 teenage boys but this is our first go with a girl. Should be fun (or should I be saying "heaven help us" about now?).

Really looking forward to this weekend where Kim and I will celebrate (heaven help me say the correct number)  24 years together. Heading to Fish Lake for the first time since my family sold our cabin a few years ago. Until then we used to go every year but it's been a while.

We'll see how running 14-18 miles at 9000 ft feels!

Was rudely awoken by the alarm clock. I almost always wake up before the alarm and it made me mad so in protest we went back to bed and waited until the kids were off to school then did a very nice 6 mile run in the morning sunshine. Conditions were almost perfect, if the SF wind wouldn't have been doing its thing it would have been entirely perfect.

Our daughter Tia had forgotten some books for school so we first ran .75 to the school carrying her books. I'm sure we looked pretty snazzy. Along the way I made the observation to Kim that "Reading is Run-damental!". I'm sure she was impressed with my cleverness and wit.

Now off to Fish Lake for some R & R. Not sure if the 14-18 mile planned run at 9000 ft. qualifies for R & R or not. Guess it depends on what the R's stand for.

9:04/142

Kim and I had a great time spending the weekend at Fish Lake. The weather was absolutely fabulous for this time of year and there was hardly anyone else there so it felt like we had the place all to ourselves. I'll see if I can post some pics later.

The run was also great, ran about 10 miles on trails and the rest on the road. As expected, for a given effort at 9000 feet the pace was about a minute slower than usual so we just slowed down and enjoyed the scenery. You could really feel the altitude going uphill, major sucking wind, so we avoided the nasty steep hills.

The bad part about trails is that if you lose your concentration even for a moment you can end up doing a face plant. Unfortunately Kim did a pretty good face plant just before mile 2. But fortunately she was OK and aside from scraped up hands and sore shoulder she seems to have come out fine.  I did my own dork-face-plant later on but the thing is I wasn't even running at the time, just walking. I didn't hurt anything but my pride.

9:58/148

Ran 5 in the morning with Kim and was still feeling peppy so I added on 1 more mile I'll call MP (7:16). Also did 5 strides along the way.  These unseasonably warm temps are great for the morning Sept runs but I sure hope it cools down a bit before SGM.

8:58/144

Later at work ran 4 miles in the sun. Felt pretty good I had to restrain myself a bit as I wanted to keep it in the easy pace and HR range which for me is anything under about 165 HR. Always surprised how much easier a given pace feels later in the day after being good and warmed up. Finished up with 3 minutes barefoot running on the grass.

Hard to find much work motivation after being at Fish Lake over the weekend..... :(

7:55/162

Good luck to all the Herriman folks getting the fires under control!

Did 8-miles of up/down the hills of SF with Kim. Probably the last time doing this route before the race.  All easy stuff from here on out (at least for Kim, I reserve the right to not do much taper and maybe a MP mile here and there since I'm not racing SGM).

Hadn't planned on going to the gym today but got frustrated with work stuff so decided to go and try and sweat it out. Did 10 min eliptical, 10 min stairs and 5 min bike.

Ran 6 this morning solo as it's a rest day for Kim. Muggy and a little warm for this time of year, and of course windy. Just focused on keeping good form, run relaxed, not worry about pace. My timing was good, 5 minutes after I finished there was a bit of a downpour.

8:25/159

Later went to the gym and had to make a decision: 1) Do XT workout in the dry, fair weather gym or 2) Run outside and risk getting drenched.  Of course I made the obvious choice and went running outside. I did get hit by a few drops but got some sun before I was done and had a quite enjoyable run despite the humidity factor. Like this morning just focused on running relaxed with good form at whatever pace felt natural. Effort felt similar to this morning.

Finished with 4 min barefoot running on grass.

8:14/156

Ran 5 miles in the morning with Kim. Very calm and peaceful this morning with very little canyon wind and a humongous moon. Added on 1 solo mile and threw in a few strides just for fun.

9:19/139

Later went to the gym for 30 XT and also decided to try 1 mile on the treadmill just to see if the mill was any better than last time I used it. It wasn't.  But had a little bit of a breakthrough with a tough project at work so that's always dandy.

I have the day off work so we were able to sleep in a bit and get the run-in-the-sun in after the kids were off to school.  Last longish type run before SGM. Kim was running strong and averaged right around MP most of the run. Last mile was even quicker 8:20 with last half of that mile dipping into my MP. Coach Tom officially declares Kim READY-TO-GO for the marathon. Gonna be fun I'm really looking forward to it.

Afterward I did about 5-min barefoot run on grass.

9:05/143

Now gotta gear up for the Dirty Dash 10K tomorrow. Time to be a pig and wallow in some mud!!

For not really "racing" this race I gotta say we got pretty pooped by the end. I suppose the endless uphill/downhill, 80 degrees, various obstacles (hay bales to hurdle, walls to climb and TONS of mud mud mud to slog through) had something to do with it. Since pictures are worth 1000's of words and I'm tired and ready to go to bed I'll let the pics do the talking.

When the official race photos come out later next week maybe I'll add some more. I think we may be cleaning mud, dirt, etc. from various nooks and crannies for a few days yet.

Here is a video somebody made that gives some idea what this race whas all about.

Ran 4.3 nice and easy with the lovely cavewoman Kimi. Looks like we survived the Dirty Dash 10K in one piece. A few aches in some muscles I don't usually use like my hay bale hurdling muscles but other than that I feel great. Kim was feeling a little sluggish at first but was feeling good by the end.

9:38/132

Later ran at work just before lunch and got in just over 4 in the sun including 6-min barefoot on the grass. Nice to see my HR dropping lately on these runs!

8:10/152

Ran 5 this morning with Kim on another nice unseasonably warm morning. Also did a few strides and picked it up the last mile.

Later at work ran 4 more in the sun. Almost identical run as yesterday but without any barefoot stuff. A bit warm but enjoyable.

8:10/153

Nice 4.3 mile taper run in the AM with Kim. Ran into Steve K and he joined us for a while and we had a good chat. Kim's back has been bugging her lately at night but during the run everything was clicking. Getting excited for the weekend!  Hopefully the heat won't do us all in.

9:25/137

Later went to the gym for 30-min various XT stuff. Then finished with 7 minutes barefoot running on the grass.

Taper/non-run day for most SGM folks today including Kim but I've been feeling real good lately and won't be killing myself Saturday, so I decided to run a short 3-miler this morning. Started into the canyon wind which tends to make a person angry, which made me pick up the pace and then turning around with the tailwind it feels so good you have to go even faster. So it turned into a MP progression run and it felt real good.

Don't have my watch handy and can't remember exact splits but it was something like 7:40, 7:10, 6:58.

Best of luck to all the SGM runners!!!!!

7:15/165