Psalm 91:1 NKJV He who dwells in the secret place

I decided to run a little this morning to see how the knee felt after yesterday's run.  I had a little discomfort not what I wanted, oh well it was a beautiful morning run in shorts.  2 miles at 7:31 pace.

Now the important part of the day off to Church, focus on the Lord. 

This morning was nice at 35 degrees and sunny with a little bit of a wind. I still wore tights, and was overdressed by the end of the run. I started out slow at (7:43, 7:22, 7:04) and progressively got faster just to test the knee. The knee felt okay a little discomfort but not really a pain. I did a couple more miles faster (7:01, 7:00), which all of this felt real easy. The heart rate has stayed pretty low these last couple of weeks with the training I've had to do.

Finally, I thought the heck with this if I'm going to run Ogden I need to test what the knee can do faster. I decided to start some sort of tempo and see what happens.

Mile 6: 6:34 (gently speeding up to test how the knee fills, not bad)
Mile 7: 6:11 ( Felt fun to exactly go a little faster, and the knee was doing good).
Mile 8: 5:52 (Hey! a 5 something mile I haven't seen that since SLC Marathon). I don't remember how it felt, but it must have not felt bad or I would have remembered that.
Mile 9: 6:13 ( Portion of this mile was uphill, and I was starting to get hot being so overdressed, but the mile felt good. I'm sure some of it was fatigue running a little bit faster.
Mile 10: 6:18 ( I eased off a little to start slowing down, because I realized I was on the last mile of the run and I didn't want to end so fast)
Mile 11: 6:38 (I ran an extra mile for recovery... just to ease of the pace a bit). This mile felt so easy.

11.5 miles at an overall 6:43 pace in 1:17 minutes.

I don't really know yet how to evaluate this performance, but it's a start and Ogden is close so I'll just have to be as ready as I can be.

Lunch:

Had a dentist appointment and thought I would get a run afterwards, but my knee is sore so I'm sticking to running just singles for now.  Pretty bummed about the knee, but you have to stay positive in all situations.

This morning was nice and sunny at 40 degrees, but a little bit of wind but not bad. It was great running in shorts, and exciting not to have the extra layers. I wish my knee felt as good as I was feeling that I got to run in shorts. I think the tempo run yesterday made it sore today and it bothered me most of the hilly run that I did. The main focus on this run today was uphill and downhill running. I went up Pocatello Creek Rd. up Vistia Rd.and back down. I didn't even look at my garmin and really didn't care about the pace. I ran 10.2 miles at an overall 7:07 pace in 1:12 (fastest mile was 6:28)

(Mizuno Precisions 8 351 miles)

Evening 4.3 miles at a 7:01 Pace. Did this run after work in very nice weather. Knee felt really good. The temperature was 71 degrees, how sweet it is. I'm taking Diclofenac Potassium 50mg for my knee. Again I didn't care what my pace was. It didn't feel hard just relaxing after a busy day at work.

Diclofenac belongs to a group of medicines called non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). It works by blocking the action of a substance in the body called cyclo-oxygenase. Cyclo-oxygenase is involved in the production of various chemicals in the body, some of which are known as prostaglandins. Prostaglandins are produced in response to injury or certain diseases and would otherwise go on to cause pain, swelling and inflammation. . Arthritic conditions are one example of this. Diclofenac is used to relieve pain and inflammation in a wide range of conditions, including arthritis, gout, sprains, fractures, back pain and following minor surgery. All the medicines in the NSAID group reduce inflammation caused by the body's own immune system and are effective painkillers, but should be taken with or after food to avoid stomach related side effects.

(Avia Lites pair 4    573 miles)

Last night I got 8 hours of sleep which was great, since I got 5 hours the night before. We were at a family BBQ on Monday and we stayed up pretty late. I was still really tired this morning, and I think it has to do with not getting enough carbs the last couple of days. I've ate more red meat the last three days than I have in probably two months put together. But I still weight the same at 145 pounds. Some of the side dishes with the BBQ ribs, Hamburgers, Sloppy Joe's haven't been Carbs, and I think that's the problem.

This morning it was 48 degrees, but cloudy with a strong wind, and the forecast said that it would probably rain about the time I would be 20 minutes into my run. Sure enough it started getting cold and rainy and it wasn't fun. I started off the run with my brain, nervous system still wanting to crawl back into the covers and sleep for 10 more hours. I did my hilly Satterfield loop... the hill is longer and steeper compared to the Ogden hill at my 16 in the marathon. It makes a great simulation for Ogden, because you have a couple of miles downhill after that.

After waking up after some slow miles (7:42, 7:20, 7:26, 7:49 (Satterfield hill), 6:55, 6:43) I decided to do a tempo/MP run in the rain and headwind (oh joy!). First mile is completely downhill 6:03, felt so easy and I didn't push any effort even the headwind. Second mile is downhill 6:17 and I ran by feel and most have slowed up a bit not realizing it. Third mile completely flat and in a headwind 5:54, and I had to give a little more effort, but the rain was making me hurry. Fourth Mile 5:56 completely flat, rain, cold really really wanted to make me be home already.

Not a bad effort overall since I didn't know what I wanted to do this morning. My knee really didn't hurt so maybe that's a good sign, but time will tell later in the day. I do still feel really tired, and fatigued. I need to get to bed early again tonight, and eat more carbs.

11 miles at an overall 6:50 pace in 1:16. (Saucony Grid Triigon 4 466 miles) I must say sometimes I feel I can run faster in my heavier Saucony Grid Trigon 4 shoes than I can in my flats on a tempo run. These are great shoes.

Evening:

 Ran 2 miles from work to home, and that was all I had time for, because of a School function we have to be at.  Overall Pace 7:17.

(Mizuno wave riders 5   615 miles)

This morning I ran 11.1 miles at an easy 7:24 pace in 1:22. My knee was sore running this morning which is very frustrating. I'm thinking maybe my Mizuno Precision 8 shoes are the cause of the sore knee, because it seems to be sore every other day when I run in them. Not sure if this is an issue but a good observation to keep doing. I ran over a nail this morning that I pulled out, and I was lucky because it didn't quite break the sole/pad. Little longer nail and I would have gotten an accidental shot that wasn't intended for any purpose.

Good slow run to built up those glycogen stores or teach the muscles to store glycogen on longer slower runs. Third day in a row that I wear shorts at 40 degrees. Although I did have to fight against the nasty headwind. I really need to move... I'm tired of the wind here.

(Mizuno Precision 8 - 362 miles)

Evening

Ran after work to my Grandpa's house for 2 miles 7 minute pace than after mowing his lawn I ran back to work for 2.2 at a 7 minute pace. Nice easy running and long day.  What's very interesting is my knee didn't hurt at all, maybe it's the shoes? 

Now time to EAT!!

(Avia Lites Pair #4 - 578 miles)

I didn't sleep at all last night I was trying to simulate my run today, and trying to figure out where I was going to run. I tossed and turned all night. I was extremely tired when I went to bed at an early hour to get the extra sleep. Well, that did happen unfortunately. I finally got up at 5am something and go out the door by 6am ish.

It was cold this morning but I ran in my race shorts anyway. It sprinkled a bit in the first 5 minutes of the run but that was it.

I ran the first 8 miles mostly uphill with one major hill on Olympus Rd. splits (7:23, 7:01, 6:52, 7:03, 7:07, 6:57, 7:06, 6:35)

Then I decided to do a tempo run where part of the course for the next four miles was either flat or downhill. Good simulation for Ogden since I just finished a lot of uphill running at this point.

Mile 9 - 6:20 Completely flat (wanted to start the tempo slow to see how my knee felt, and it actually felt fine the whole run. I love my good old Asics Ohana Racers

Mile 10 - 5:49 3/4 Downhill the rest flat (Felt real easy and the effort wasn't hard. The knee felt fine)

Mile 11 - 5:36 Completely Downhill (Felt real good and still felt sort of easy. There's a lot of rain clouds, and I was thinking the weather could turn ugly here soon.)

Mile 12 - 5:40 Completely Flat (Turned into a strong headwind so I worked harder on this mile. I passed our new Golds Gym building that's almost finished, and it's beautiful.).

Mile 13 & 14 cool-down (6:47, 6:46)

I ran 14.2 miles this morning at a 6:39 pace in 1.34.

Usually, my knee hurts every other day, and its when I run in my Mizuno Precision 8 shoes so I'll try a little bit of an experiment here. I'm not going to run in them tomorrow, instead all run in my Saucony's to see if maybe the shoe is causing the problem.

(Asics Ohana racer #1 - 260 miles)

I'm in Boise staying at the Oxford Suites for my daughter's soccer tournament so I had to decide where would  be a good location to run outside near the exit.  It was a cold morning with the wind  blowing but I  decided to run in shorts anyway being it was 37 degrees.  

I ran on the Overland Rd 4.5 miles away from the hotel and then 4.8 miles back to the Hotel.  It really was cold with the wind  blowing.  I basically just when by feel, and not paying to much attention to my garmin.  I ran 9.3 miles at an overall 6:53 pace in 1:04.  My lowest split was (6:40) which I really wanted to take the run pretty easy.

My daughter lost their first soccer game 5 to 2 but she played hard and really hustled.  At 12 years old soccer starts to get aggressive, but she's very talented and running has helped her be that way.  We have another game at 1pm I'll keep my fingers crossed that they will win.