Every Run is a Great Run!

AM: Recovery run for me today after the kinda ugly race Saturday. Yesterday my legs were pretty sore, similar to after running down Payson Canyon a couple of weeks ago. I did the ice bath thing both Saturday and last night and it helped quite a bit. Still a little stiff in the ankle/calves starting out today but after getting warmed up I felt pretty good. After a 1 1/2 mile warmup I paced Kim to a 6-mile tempo run @ 1/2 marathon pace which is around 8:30. We did an out-an-back run, basically covering miles 2-4 of the SF 1/2 marathon course. Started out nice and easy on the uphill 3 miles into the wind but were cruising along pretty nice right around 8-min mile pace by the last mile.

Ave tempo pace 8:24.

Wanted to mention a weird thing that happened either right before or during the race Saturday. I got some kind of spider bite or bee string in the middle of my arm. By the end of the Saturday it was kind of sore and itchy and turning red. Then yesterday we noticed a red line running from the bite area up my arm to my shoulder and armpit. I've always heard red lines aren't so good and are an indication of infection, blood poisoning, etc. We debated whether to go to the ER (since it was Sunday), but our great family doctor and fellow runner Roman Takasaki was kind enough to talk to me at home and call in a prescription for an antibiotic. Hopefully it won't end up being anything that causes grief or gets me sick. Dang nasty bug bites!

PM: Ran the Lakeview 5-mile out-and-back route with Paul and Bill R. Thankfully everyone was in recovery mode so we kept the pace nice and easy. We had a great run with some great chat, mostly about the Olympics including that awesome 4-man relay last moment victory by the US over France yesterday. I had missed seeing it last night but this morning I found the replay on msnbc.com and thoroughly enjoyed watching the amazing finish. Got me all pumped up for the next race.

Ave pace 8:48.

RHR 46 

Very early AM: Kim and I got a little wild and crazy and decided to break our nights sleep into 2 sessions by sneaking in a 3AM run in the middle of our slumber so we could check out the meteor shower during ideal viewing hours. We found out you pretty much have the world to yourself at 3 or 4am, no cars, no people, no noise other than the wind and the chorus of crickets down in the river bottoms. Reminded me a little bit of some of those mid-night legs of WBR, only better.

We ran down to the bottoms, past the row of trees, past gu corner and up powerhouse toward the golf course and back. Along the way we stopped at a few places furthest away from any street lights so we could gaze up at the sky to catch the falling stars. It is possible to also gaze at the sky while running but we found this can be hazardous to your health, especially on pot-holed roads.

Perhaps one of the crazier things we did that would not work during normal hours was along the tree-line road -- we just laid down right on the asphalt in the middle of the road so we could gaze up at the stars without having to strain our necks. Kind of felt like being a kid for a moment, then we got creeped out hearing strange rustlings and noises from the corn field so we went on our way.

We did see quite a bunch of meteors, perhaps not as many as other years when we've watched in the back yard, but this time was much more memorable with the running element, being alone with Kim, and being outside of town away from the lights in the pitch black with the crickets and shooting stars. Thanks to Kim for suggesting we do this. I think you win the prize for best-suggestion-for-a-run as my last suggestion was to run all the way to the top of Loafer.

After we got home it was only 4:30 so we jumped back into bed for a few more glorious hours of sleep.

Ave pace: DON'T CARE!

Late AM: 11 minutes on the stationary bike and 10 minutes on the eliptical worth 2 miles of crosstrain miles. I think I'll use the eliptical more for crosstraining as I noticed I can get my HR up to 140 without much trouble but with the bike I struggle to get over 120. Also did core workout. Legs are feeling pretty good today I think I'm pretty much recovered from the race. Of course the lingering abdominal, groin, and high-hamstring-butt-itis are always lurking in the corner, but all-in-all I'm feeling good and looking forward to a tempo run down Payson canyon tomorrow.

RHR 49

Kim and I ran down Payson Canyon this morning along with a bunch of other guys and gals. Our son Tyler was kind enough to get up early and be our van chauffeur. Tyler S and I ended up leading the pack today as we didn't see anyone after the first 1/2 mile or so. Kim ran with Beth E most of the way which worked out pretty well for her. I was surprised how close behind those 2 were when I doubled back to meet back up with Kim (that's where the extra 1.2 miles came from to end up at 12.3 for the day). They were well ahead of the rest of the pack. Kim didn't have a Garmin but Beth did so it will be interesting to see what their pace was.

After easing into the first mile running it around 7:15 we did the last 10 miles as a downhill marathon pace tempo run. I wanted to keep most the miles in the 6-6:30 range and we were pretty much successful  at doing that. My stupid flakey-as-of-late garmin kept glitching all the way down so my splits are kind of whacked. I feel good about this run. I was tired at the end but not totally spent. Although our splits were slower the last few miles I think we put more effort into them as that section is much less steep and has some rolling hills and flat.

Total time for 11.1 mile dowhill: 1:11:49. Ave pace 6:27

Splits (guessing on some of them where the garmin messed up):

7:13, 6:19, 6:05, 6:13, 6:18, 6:20, 6:28, 6:37, 6:28, 6:29, 6:38.

AM: Ran 6 mile river bottoms loop with Kim. I was surprised how good my legs felt after the steep downhill tempo run yesterday. Looks like maybe I'm finally at the point where I can really push the downhill and not be hammered the next day or 2 (or 3). Looking forward to Hobble Creek and perhaps some redemption for Provo River.

Ave pace 9:35.

Late AM: Ran 6 mile Lakeview loop. Pretty much uneventful except for when I almost got hit by a garbage truck. No garmin so don't know average pace. Probably around 8:30.

RHR 45

AM: Ran just over 4 with Kim then added on a little extra to get to 6. Legs felt very heavy today. Seems like days like today when the alarm wakes me up vs. when I wake up "naturally" before the alarm, then the morning running is much more difficult. Hopefully with today being a very easy pace run we'll feel good and ready for the long run tomorrow.

Ave pace: around 10

Late AM: 11 minutes on bike, 10 minutes on elliptical, core workout.

Ran with Kim out to the Stake Center at 5 to meet up with the SF runners. Hung out an chatted a bit but then let Kim and the main group take off while I finished a mile warmup and waited to meet Darin at 5:15 for a 20-mile run in the 7-8 min/mi pace range. It ended up being a pretty good run and it was nice to run with Darin who is running pretty strong right now. Steve, Carl and Pat usually would have been their but Steve and Carl are out of town and Pat is injured. I kept up with Darin most of the way but had to let him go the last couple of miles. I was just not feeling it today the last few miles. I think I still have some lingering fatigue from the race last week and the tempo run down Payson Canyon on Wednesday. Hopefully by next week I'll be feeling better.

Ave pace for the 20 miles: 7:40.