Every Run is a Great Run!

Early AM: Ran with Kim for just over 3 miles then 3 more solo. Clear, crisp morning to start out November. Pretty nice actually as the wind was pretty mellow.

8:33/148

Late AM: Ran 4 more miles, 2 on the roads and 2 BFOG. Beautiful sunny day and warm enough to go in short sleeves. Wouldn't mind a bit if it stayed this way for a good long while but I suppose the skiers wouldn't appreciate it.

8:09

Early AM: Fartleking...across the universe on another clear crisp morning. Kim had a fartlek workout planned for today and coach Tom was excited to see how that would go. Seems like fartlek can mean a dozen things depending on who you ask.

To me fartlek style workouts are like jazz style music where you're free to improvise and do whatever you want to some degree. So we just kind of went with that idea and sped up here and there for 1 or 2 minutes or whatever with the only rule being that we try and go no faster than Kim's 5K pace to keep things safe as she eases into the faster running. After we got done I added on 1 more mile to get to 6.

8:55

Late AM: Was planning on doing a bit of XT and a bit of running but as I was working the stairmaster and looking out at the sunny day I bagged the XT after 2 or 3 minutes worth and headed outside for a 4 mile run. Good move, I felt great and the sun was great.

7:55/152 RHR 46

Since it's November and all, I'm thinking I should be thinking more about stuff I'm thankful for. Today I'm thankful that after today I don't have to hear any more political ads, at least for a year or so. And I'm also thankful for bacon.

Did the hills workout earlier than usual today since Kim and I were involved with the funeral of our friend and neighbor Ellen Lotz. Kim was a speaker and I played the prelude/postlude organ music and gave the closing prayer. We became friends with George (who passed away last year) and Ellen when we first moved to Spanish Fork to our starter home across the street from them (and down the street from where we live now). What a great couple and although we're sad to see them go they were fortunate to live to a good old age and have many good times and touch many lives. So today I am thankful for Ellen and George Lotz.

Wasn't loving running the hills at the earlier hours compared to before lunch like usual. Very dark and I was nervous to push it much on the downhill and didn't quite have the oomph on the uphill like the last 2 weeks. But still a positive and beneficial workout.

8:26/157

Early AM: Ran 4 miles with Kim then 2 more solo. Kim was really movin the last couple miles down into the 7's on pace. Had a hard time keeping up with yesterday's hill run still in my legs!

8:44/142

Late AM: Man what great fall weather we've had in the rockies this year. Bagged the XT again and ran 2 miles on the road then 2 BFOG.

8:25

Today I'm thankful for the Aztecs. No not the SDSU Aztecs but he original Native American Aztecs. Why the Aztecs? Because they were the first folks known to mash up peanuts and make something vaguely resembling peanut butter, one of the all time great inventions and what I just enjoyed eating for lunch.

Early AM: 6 miles solo nice and easy.

8:39/149

Late AM: Legs feeling a bit weary and don't want to be tired for the long run tomorrow so I resisted the call of the beautiful weather and did 30 min various XT (10 min each EM, EB, SS) at the gym.

Today I'm thankful for clementine oranges. They're easy to peel, tasty as candy, and are just oozing with Christmas spirit.

I was mixed up on when we turn back the clock and slept in thinking if I woke up at 6:30 it would be like 5:30 and we could meet up with the SF running group at 6. Oops! But it actually worked out nicely and was good to not be in the dark the whole time.

Ran the first few with Kim including about a mile with Hal and Darin, then the rest were solo. Threw in a few MP miles when I was feeling good.  I'm still feeling pretty good most days but not quite as good this week as the last couple of weeks. I'll just continue running mostly by feel for now and keep the mileage in the 50-60 range and not worry about speed until the new year.

8:08/155

Thanks to Kim for pointing out to me the simple pleasures of our modern, advance lifestyle. Today I am thankful for indoor plumbing, water heaters and long, hot showers.

Early AM: Ran just over 3 with Kim then the rest (3.1) solo. Kinda weird weather for November today. It was raining very lightly but was quite warm, in the 50's so it was actually quite pleasant to run in. Legs feeling really good but a little groggy in the head, probably from switch from daylight savings and maybe from fasting yesterday.

8:34/146

Late AM: Another 4 mile rain run but this one wasn't quite as pleasant like the earlier one. Rain was a bit less "gentle" with colder temps and more wind than this morning. But still felt good to get out and get er done. And still better than the dreadmill in my book. No I did not run BFOG.

7:59/154

Yesterday in Elders Quorum a recently returned missionary talked about his experiences in Nicaragua. Pretty amazing stuff but so sad to see how tough it is for the people to live in such poor conditions. So today I'm especially grateful for life in the good ol U.S.A.

Working from home so ran my hills workout just before lunch today instead of Wednesday as usual. Kim also had a hill workout on her 5K training schedule so she warmed up with me and did her version of the hills while I did mine.

I was feeling really good today, one of those days when you wish you had a race because you feel in the zone. The hills felt easier than I ever remember and I was able to run them faster with less effort. This is all good and makes me happy. Lately I'm noticing more smoothness and flow in my running than I've felt for a very long time.  Just need to make sure I do all the things to keep that feeling going and not any of the things that could mess everything up.

For comparision I've noted my ave pace and ave/max HR from today vs. the other weeks doing this same hill workout.

week 1: 8:36/155/? (late AM)

week 2: 8:07/165/185 (late AM)157

week 3: 8:02/162/182 (late AM)

week 4: 8:26/157/? (early AM)

today: 7:55/158/178 (late AM)

So nice that my boss let's us work hours that work best for us and encourages us to work at home 1 or 2 days a week. Today I am thankful for my boss!

Early AM: 6 miles along the standard river bottoms loop. Around 30 degrees and breezy so pulled out the longs although I think I would have been fine with the compression shorts/socks combo I've been wearing other days. Nice peaceful run.

8:18/153

Late AM: 4 more miles at work in light snow, felt a little tired I didn't sleep quite as well as I would have liked last night.

8:13/146

Today I'm thankful for Paul Milsap. What an amazing performance last night to pull of the road win against the mighty and invincible Heat. With so many professional athletes acting like idiots the last while it sure it nice to see a humble, hard-working guy like Milsap finally get his due and develop into a true all-star.

Early AM: 6 mile loop solo - similar to yesterday but maybe a bit warmer with less breeze. I was expecting it to be colder based on forecasts so the tad warmer factor was a nice surprise.

8:33/147

Late AM: 4 more miles at work including 2 miles trying out SFOG (Stocking Feet On Grass). The socks were just enough to keep the feet from freezing. So maybe until it snows I'll be able to get away with a few more almost-barefoot runs and keep getting whatever strengthening benefits the BFOG therapy has been giving me. Gotta say my feet have felt wonderful the last few weeks now. Now if I could just get the upper right leg/groin area to quit whining I'd be about pain free. I'm thinking a reduced mileage week next week or Thanksgiving week may be just the ticket. Looks like 8:33 is the magical pace for today.

8:33/146

Today I'm thankful to all the veterans and those currently serving in the military who put their lives on the line so the rest of us don't have to. Happy Veterans Day!

Early AM: Ran 6 with Kim. Below freezing again this morning but the winds were mellow and I found it to be a quite nice, peaceful, and enjoyable run.  The relaxed pace was just what I needed.

9:13/130

Late AM: 30 minutes XT - 10 mins each stairs, bike, elliptical.

Today I'm thankful that it's Friday!

Ran just over 14 in the early morning - cold again but not windy, similar to the last couple of days. Not too bad for a November run. I ran a couple solo as I was rushed for time, then met Kim and went to the stake center at 6 to see who was there. Not too many then as some went out earlier for some crazy reason.

Ran a little bit with the speedy boys - Tyler, Rich and Travis, and a little with Kay and Kelly, and a little more solo, then finished up with the speedy boys. Decided to stay in the easy pace range and not run any MP miles until the groin pains calm down for a few days straight.

My first 60 mile week since early April. I'll take a rest/reduced week next week or Thanksgiving week then hold around 55-60 plus a bit of XT thru the end of the year or more.

Nice to see my ave HR moving consistently lower lately for a given pace.

8:25/148

Today I'm thankful for college football! Go Cougs and Utes!

Early AM: Ran 5 with Kim then 1 solo. Wet morning with a light rain but not too cold. For some reason with cold and wet weather I can't seem to get the calves loosened up and they want to cramp all day. Been trying to stretch them out a lot and seems to help a little. SGM 2008 with the nasty monsoon conditions totally thrashed my calves, worst pain ever and sore for days. Not sure what the deal is. Ave HR was also a bit on the high side.

9:04/140

Late AM: Ran 4 on the roads in a little better weather than this morning. Actually got a little bit of everything: rain, wind, then finishing in the sun. Calves a bit happier for this run. Ave HR more reasonable as well.

8:19/146

Today I'm thankful that not everyday is a Monday!

Early AM: Ran 5 with Kim then 1 mile solo. Paced Kim on a 3 mile tempo run. Goal pace was in the 8-8:30 range. Kim did great and averaged just over 8 min pace with the last 2 miles in the 7's. I'm pretty sure she'll be seeing a bunch of PRs in 2011 starting with Painters 5K.  Pretty warm this morning, in the 40's, still humid but not as much as yesterday and no rain. Calves felt just fine, I didn't wear the compression socks so maybe I do better without them.

8:32

Late AM: Did 4 more miles on the roads near work. Must have phased off or been sleep running on this one as I can't hardly remember any of the run. But the watch confirms that I did indeed run 4 miles. My timing was great I got some sun, very little wind, and no rain. After I got showered and heading to my office it was raining and windy.

8:24/143

Today I'm thankful I have great in-laws and aunts. And Happy Birthday to Kim's Mom and my 2nd Mom Sharron! Also Happy Birthday to my Aunt Betty who has been known as our family's "Grandma" Aunt Betty for many years since my Mom passed away over 17 years ago and Grandma Aunt Betty has stepped in to help fill that role for our kids.

Working at home today so I did my hill workout in the late morning after the sun came out. Unfortunately there was still a pretty stiff wind from the canyon that wasn't so nice. I warmed up just over a mile with Kim then did the standard hill routine.

Of course the direction of the wind was such that I had the headwind on the uphills which made things doubly delightful. Fortunately the winds calmed down after 30 min or so and it wasn't so bad. I've been holding back on pace/effort a little this week just to give some of the ache-and-pain areas a break so they can heal up quicker and absorb the higher mileage. I'll cut the mileage down next week as well.

8:13/155/176

Today I'm thankful for hi-speed internet and VPNs that allows me to work at home.

Early AM: 6 miles solo as today is a rest day for Kim. The canyon wind was back in full force after being awol the last few days. Thankfully our river bottoms route allows us to avoid the full brunt for the most part. Turned out to be a nice enjoyable run.

8:15/153

Late AM: Beautiful sunny November day. Probably high 40's, warm enough for short sleeves and near perfect for running in my book. Ran 2 on the roads then 2 more BFOG.

8:05

Today I'm thankful for my missionary son Tyler serving in Denmark who reaches the 1 year mark today. Can't believe how quickly time goes by. The music room has been pretty quiet while he's been gone, I miss hearing his guitar practicing. In honor of his hump day here is a video of Tyler doing some wild & crazy air-tap guitar work with a song he wrote. After we watched the movie "August Rush" Tyler started tinkering with this style and actually got pretty good.

Early AM: Ran 6 with Kim. Temps were on the warmer side for Nov but the wind was ruthless, even down in the bottoms. Alot of weird stuff going on too, see Kim's blog for details.

Yesterday on fb Walter told me I should run my age in miles for my birthday. I'm afraid I didn't attempt that one but I notice I am at 46 miles for the week. But then the week is not over yet is it.

9:03/141

Late AM: 30 min XT at work, not too exciting. Seems the less I do XT the less I even want to do any XT. But my legs seem to be happier if I give them a little break from pounding every now and then.

Today I'm thankful for our oldest son Camron. He's really learned lately how to buckle down and work hard in school and other areas of his life. Quite a contrast to his 1st term of college when he nearly flunked out. Last night he won 2nd place in a business plan contest sponsored by the college business dept and won him some cash. Nice job Cam.

Ran a bunch with Kim and other various SF runners then finished with 3 solo. Still warm around 45 degrees but very windy again. Most likely we won't see AM temps this warm until sometime next spring.

Kept it nice and easy today as this week is another high mileage over 60 mile week and I need to let my body/legs catch up to all the 50-60 mile weeks the last month and a half. Next week I'll take a probably overdue recover week and keep the miles in the 40's.

8:42/150

Today I'm very thankful for my health. I was talking to Kim the other day trying to remember the last time I was sick and I really couldn't remember anything since the week before UVM back in 2009. Nice! Hope I didn't just jinx my non-sick streak by mentioning that.

Early AM: Ran 6 with Kim on main roads as side roads were pretty nasty with patches of black ice. Temps were still not too bad yet, around 32 degrees I would imagine. Guess come Wednesday then we get that bitter cold down into the lower teens. Luckily we didn't have any slips or steps in any puddles. I don't like it much at all when the roads are like this, so easy to slip and fall or pull a muscle. This is about the only conditions when the treadmill starts looking appealing.

9:18/133

Late AM: Reduced running miles week for me so I did mostly XT instead for 30 mins. I also ran 1 mile on the TM, don't think I've run on the 'mill for months and I wasn't loving it but for 1 mile and with the weather such as it is I was ok with it.

Lots of chatter at my workplace today since it was announced that we are being acquired. Should make things interesting for the next while.

Today I am thankful for my son #3 Jansen. Jansen is a unique kid, quite a bit different than our others, mostly in a good way but sometimes in a little bit nerve-wracking way. Full of  energy and passion with a wild & crazy streak. This video shows what I'm talking about, to get the full effect you need to start at about 1:45 into the clip.

Early AM: Kim and I got lucky with the weather this morning and had pretty good conditions for Kim's planned speed workout at the track. Temps around 35 with some wind but not too bad. We did 7 800's around Kim's 5K pace with 400 jog rests in between. She did great, got a little faster on each one and ended up around 7:15 pace for the last one. Check our her blog for all the split info.

Now we await "The Blizzard" followed by single digit AM temps. BBBUUUUURRRRR!!!!

8:25/152

Late AM: Did a half-hearted XT workout and some core work.

The movie at the gym was one I has seen before but can't remember the name. About a guy whose daughter gets kidnapped in Paris and he has to go over and pound all the bad guys until he finds her. Made me thankful today for my 2 beautiful ray-of-sunshine daughters. After 3 boys straight we didn't know if we'd ever get a daughter, but then we were blessed with 2 wonderful girls who brighten my world each and every day.

Well I guess "The Great Blizzard" was maybe a bit over-hyped? Didn't seem like that big a deal and we've had far worse snowy/windy storms in Spanish Fork most every winter we've lived here. But I guess it got everyone in winter-prep mode and kept alot of cars off the roads and made things a bit safer.

It also hasn't been as cold as predicted, at least not today. We'll see what tomorrow brings - at the moment the forecast is for -2 for our SF runner group annual Thanksgiving morning run. FUN!!

Kim and I went out around 11am wearing what we thought would be the appropriate attire for teen temps. But a few steps outside and we both looked at each other and realized we we're way overdressed. I always forget that 19 degrees with SUN and NO WIND feels more like 30 degrees equivalent in the early AM dark. So we dumped a layer and went on our way.

Ran with Kim for just over a mile then we split up and I did my weekly hill run, albeit shortened a mile since this week is a reduced miles week for me. I felt pretty good, although the colder temps and extra clothes pushed my HR up higher than usual for a given pace. I pushed just enough to barely beat the 8-minute man.

Ran with Carl Hanson's boy for a little while and was quickly reminded of the difference between teenage runners and old guys like me. It's the TIGGER factor! I swear young HANSON has springs in his feet/legs he seemed to bound like a kangaroo with each step and gain an extra couple feet with each stride with no effort involved! I was trying my best to run with a nice smooth old-man-shuffle stride but I'm afraid I've lost the "bounce" factor. Oh well at least us old guys have the "Wisdom" thing going for us, right?

7:59/164 max 187

Today I'm so very thankful for the pretty Manti girl named Kimi. On top of being such a hot babe she is also such a compassionate, caring person who really has a gift of knowing how to brighten a persons day. She is especially good at relating well to the elderly and those who are down-and-out and in bringing light to those who wander in the dark. A true Christ-like example in that regard. She's good at all stuff I'm lousy at and has loved and supported me through some really good times as well as a few dark moments. Thanks Kim I love you!

Had a great Thanksgiving day today. Probably my favorite holiday. Started the day out right by going out at 7am in the single digit temps with some canyon breeze mixed in for a nice and easy 6-mile run at TDCP (Too Dang Cold Pace) with Kim and the SF running group. Thankfully our previous investments in good winter running gear paid off and we didn't freeze to death. In fact it wasn't so bad really except for the cheeks when the wind was in our face. Afterward we had our traditional runner get together with hot cocoa, donuts/bagels and gift exchange. I won a really awesome Charlie Brown Christmas tree.

Thanksgiving at our house this year but not too many guests around 15 or so. Everything went well, I ate a ton of food, had funning playing games with kids and extended family and just enjoying all the truly good things in life. So thankful for the many blessings I enjoy, for a loving Heavenly Father, for the gospel of Jesus Christ and his sacrifice and the 2nd (and 3rd and 4th...) chances it gives to us in this life. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!

Ran 6 mostly with Kim after the sun came up. A bit warmer than yesterday but plenty cold and a bit of wind chill from the canyon breeze. Felt pretty sluggish with the cold and after the turkey feast yesterday. But good to get out and get er done.

9:03/139

Nice to have a little more pep today than the last couple of days. Guess after a couple single digit or low teens mornings then 20 degrees starts feeling pretty balmy. I was overdressed once again! But it's always tricky with the SF canyon wind chill factor knowing how to dress during winter.

Kim and I met up with the SF group at 6am and started out with the group. Than after coming down heartbreak Kim and I and Tyler S started on a tempo run for Kim for about 6 miles. Kim did really well and was cranking out the 7:45-8:15 paced miles with relative ease or so it seemed to me. Just after Osbournes I parted ways with Kim as she was shooting for 8 miles then Tyler and I ran up/down the new trail. We saw a whole bunch of deer including at least 1 buck, maybe 12-15 total or so. Guess the cold temps and snow have pushed the deer down, it was fun to see them they were surpisingly tame and didn't seem all to eager to move out of our way.

This was medium run for me, not quite in the MP range but on the fast end of my easy pace range. It was probably too easy for Tyler but Kim and I both appreciated having him there to keep the pacing moving along and distracting us from any discomfort with some good conversation. Enjoyable run. Now looking forward to a good football game and fun/partying with family!

8:05/161 

Wasn't sure if the roads were very runnable in the early AM so decided to shovel snow instead, work at home, then do the run later in the day. In hindsight I think we would have been fine going early but things worked out fine running later, although I felt pretty sluggish today for some reason, also a bit of an upset stomach. Maybe due to eating too much the last few days including too much junk.

Ran 4 solo while Kim was in a meeting them met up with Kim for 6 more. Hopefully the sluggishness and upset stomach aren't signs of some flu bug coming on. I just bragged recently that I hadn't been sick since June 2009, hopefully that didn't jinx me.

8:54/146

Early AM: 6 miles mostly with Kim on another frosty morning. Single digits again but we must be getting used to it as it wasn't so bad. I'm sure it helped that there was little to no wind. The surroundings were actually quite beautiful in a winter wonderland sort of way with all the sparkly frosted trees. Felt a lot better than yesterday.

9:17

Late AM: 4 miles at work. Nice to see some sun, always makes it feel about 10 degrees warmer than it really is. Probably around 20 degrees, I was daring and wore shorts (since that was all I had!).

7:55/158