Cool Runnings!

AM - Ran 5.5 miles this morning.  Run felt good, back is a little stiff at work now.  I started out nice and easy to warm up my muscles, then got into a good rhythm.  The weather has been absolutely wonderful - temperature this morning was around 80 degrees, which was nice, but a little too humid.  First mile was around 8:30, then rattled off 4 sub-8:00 miles, and finished with the last 0.5 miles at MP.  Everything felt good.  I don't have an exact time or average pace for my run because my garmin didn't stop when I pressed the start/stop button, and it recorded an additional .11 miles that totally threw off my average pace.  I will fiddle around when I get home from work and see if I can figure it out.  Depending on how my back feels this evening, I may or may not get in another run.

PM - ran 0.5 miles with my two oldest boys just before we got hit with a huge storm - major downpour.  Ran at 16:00 pace.  After the storm, ran another 2 miles, total time of 16:28, average pace of 8:14/mile.  Back feels a bit better, but at the end of the run, my left calf tightened up on me.  Not sure why, but will pay close attention to it tomorrow and rest it if necessary.  St. George is getting close - I don't want to come down with an injury again. 

Well, after a day and a half of running, my back decided it wasn't healed yet, and my calf was still pretty sore this morning, so I have officially decided to shut it down for the rest of the week and let my back completely heal.  Missing one week of training is not going to be the end of the world.  Pending a full recovery, I will plan on starting back up next Monday, and will make sure I take it nice and easy when I start back up again.  No sub-8:00 miles for at least a few days.  I am feeling surprisingly calm about this, after feeling so frustrated this morning.

Back in the saddle again . . .

AM - ran 5 easy miles.  My left calf was a bit tight - I had woken up in the morning on Saturday with a pretty big cramp in my calf, and I am still trying to work it out.  Since this was my first day back after about a week off, I took it easy.  Total time for this morning's run was 43:34, average pace of 8:43/mile.  This is close enough to my goal pace of 8:45/mile today that I am totally satisfied with my run this morning.  I plan on doing another easy 2-3 miles this evening.  High for today is only supposed to be 96 - yay!  It is finally cooling down (maybe for good?), but the humidity is still way up - 65% humidity this morning.  Looking forward to resuming my training.  I need to get in at least one 20 miler within the next month, and I am debating whether or not to run the White Mountain 1/2 marathon or not (it is on September 15).  The good thing is that it is mostly downhill, so I can work on my downhill form and pace, and it also has a monster of a hill (2 miles long) that puts Veyo to shame.  The bad thing is that it is only 3 weeks before the marathon.  I would appreciate any feedback on this.

PM - ran another 5 easy miles (not continuous), no time, but the pace felt nice and easy.  I put some Absorbine, Jr. on my left calf before my run, and that seems to have helped to loosen up the knot I had.  Leg feels better this evening.  Stretched it out nice and good, ran a little more than I had anticipated, but don't think there will be any ill effects from the extra miles.  Another nice easy day tomorrow as well.

AM - ran with music this morning, and I think it affected my pace.  I was planning on doing a nice easy run this morning, same pace as yesterday, but it didn't work out that way.  Several songs in a row that were very motivating - the theme from Gladiator, then Apollo 13, and Crimson Tide.  Those songs really got me going, and as a result, my run was quite a bit faster than I had planned on.  Total time for the run was 40:19, average pace of 8:04/mile.  The good news is that my calf feels almost completely back to normal again.  I would still like to get in a couple more easy miles this evening.  After talking with Lybi last night, I think I have decided I would like to help pace her in her next 5k - there is one on August 18 that should be good.  Her fitness is good for the amount of mileage she is running, but she needs a little help maintaining a consistent pace, which is where I come in.  I am actually pretty excited about doing this, and hope it works out well.

PM - ran 2 miles, again with music.  This may have been a mistake.  I ended up turning my easy 2 mile run into a 2 mile MP run, and couldn't seem to find the willpower to slow down :(  Towards the end of the run, my left calf started to cramp up, so that gave me motivation to slow down (I was probably running around 6:45 pace at the time - oops!).  I don't think it is anything to worry about right now, but I really need to slow down and take it easy to avoid injury.  You would think that my repeating this enough would drill it into my head, but NO!  Maybe I need to give myself some incentive to not run fast . . . I'm sure Lybi and I can think up something to help me.  Okay, tomorrow, I WILL run slow and easy to make sure I don't overdo it and get myself injured before St. George again.

AM - didn't run - slept poorly, and decided I needed to sleep in.

PM - ran 6.2 easy miles.  I was able to keep my promise to myself to keep them easy miles.  My calf felt better - at least it didn't cramp up, although I could tell it still felt a little tender.  I will continue to take it easy the rest of this week, and will see how far I feel up to going on Saturday.  Total time for the run was 52:15, average pace of 8:26/mile.  I'll take that.  I found myself impatient during the run, wanting to do more.  Even so, I still found myself slowly increasing the pace during the run.  I started out at 8:37 for the first mile, and by the end, I was actually running slighly slower than 8:00/mile.  I was a bit worried when I first started running - I didn't want my calf to get strained AGAIN - not after all I have been through.  Slowing down is definitely the right answer for now.  I felt relieved at the end, as my muscles slowly loosened up over the course of the run.  Feeling pretty good right now - but now it is off to bed so I can get enough sleep and get out again in the morning.  I will also take the multivitamin I forgot to take this morning.

AM - Didn't run again.

PM - Ran 6.5 easy miles - total time was 54:42, average pace of 8:25/mile.  Was planning on 7, but my legs were tired.  I also rode my bike this evening - 2 miles fast (I am counting that as 1 mile running), and then 4 super easy miles with my webelos scouts for the cycling activity belt loop.  I won't even count those miles because they were so easy, half the time I wasn't even pedaling.  All in all, a good run.  I am tired, and need to go to bed.  Legs feel good, just tired.

AM - did not want to get out of bed, but pulled myself out anyways.  I did not want to get in a 7 mile run this evening when I have a long run to do in the morning.  Ran 5 miles.  I could not find a comfortable stride the entire run.  Total time was 41:48, average pace of 8:22/mile.  Calf did not hurt, but my legs still felt kind of beat up.  I will probably do a couple short miles this evening to shake things out, and then prepare for my long run tomorrow.  Planning on 16-17 miles.

PM - nice easy 2.3 mile run.  Legs (specifically my quads) felt kind of stiff when I started out, but felt better after the run.  That was the point of this run - take it easy, loosen up the muscles for tomorrow.  Total time was 19:48, average pace was 8:37/mile.  This is probably around the pace I want to do my long run tomorrow - nice and easy.  I am going to go take a nice warm bath and then go to bed.

AM - I DID IT!  16 mile long run!  Woohoo!  This is my longest run of the year so far.  Still need to get up to 20, but that doesn't seem so daunting now.  Total time for the run was 2:14:28, average pace of 8:24/mile.  Slowest mile was somewhere around 8:32, fastest mile was the last one, 7:58 (I picked it up on the last lap 'cuz I was excited to finish).  I will admit that there were times when I wasn't sure if I could do it, but this was purely mental.  Physically, my legs felt fine.  They started getting a little heavy towards the end, but not too bad.

This also marks my highest mileage week to date, at 54.  That is also exciting to me. 

AM - ran 5 easy miles.  Legs were not sore at all (my wife massaged my legs on Saturday, which surely helped), but oddly enough, my lungs were working harder than normal today.  We'll see how I feel this evening or tomorrow morning - it may be from the long run on Saturday.  Total time for the run this mornng was 41:25, average pace of 8:17/mile.  I caught myself speeding up a couple of times and slowed down - I still want to take it easy on my calves for the next week or so.  I will try to take it out a bit easier this evening - either 2 or 3 miles.

PM - ran 3 miles.  It was hot - over 100 degrees again.  Ran with my new mp3 player (ipod shuffle look-alike, but much cheaper), pace was a bit faster than I planned, but still felt good.  Legs felt good too.  Total time was 23:22, average pace 7:47/mile.  Second mile was MP, 7:30.  Not sure how hard I am going to do my tempo during my long run on Saturday - I still don't want to run too hard and injure my calf.  I will see how my body feels and take it from there.  Current plan is something around 7:30, which would translate probably  to somewhere around 7:20/mile (probably faster) at SGM, given the lower temperatures and downhill course.  It is going to be hot here through September, so I don't want to overdo it - I am already fairly sensitive to heat.

AM - ran 6.1 easy miles.  Calf was a little sore again, probably because I ran too hard last night.  I wonder if I will ever learn.  Total time this morning was 51:16, average pace of 8:25/mile.  Took it real easy the first mile and warmed up, then got into a good rhythm.  Ran with music again, the time seemed to go by quickly.

AM - Lybi went to the early morning temple session, so I didn't run this morning.  I stayed home a little later than normal and took Sam to the bus stop for school.

PM - ran 7.9 easy miles.  First 5.1 miles with the Garmin, total time of 43:07, average pace of 8:27/mile.  Lybi and I talked about my calf last night, and came to the conclusion that I may be causing microtears by stretching before I run (i.e. before my muscles are even warmed up).  I tried not stretching this evening until after my run.  It really made a difference.  Calf felt great, was much looser at the end of the run.  Last 2.8 was untimed, but nice easy pace.  My long run on Saturday is going to depend on how my calf feels tomorrow and Friday.  If it feels great, then I will plan on the 16 miles, with the tempo run in the middle.  Otherwise I will probably plan on 18 easy miles.  We will see.

AM - alarm clock did not go off, did not run in the morning.

PM - so far, ran 3.5 miles at MP, felt very good.  Total time was 25:52, average pace of 7:24/mile.  Need to get in another 5-6 easy miles later, but Lybi is off running with her buddies right now.  Lucky her.  I really wish I had a running partner.  Music just doesn't cut it.

Ran another 5 miles after Lybi got back from her run.  Started off nice and slow, 8:45 pace, then slowly picked up the pace after each mile (this was unintentional, but it felt good).  At 4.5 miles, decided to put in a little surge, ran MP for that 1/2, then cooled down the last 0.1 miles.  Felt good, now I have to get to bed so that I am not too tired in the morning.  I still prefer running in the morning.

AM - These are listed as easy miles, but I will call them medium miles, because my legs were still kind of tired from last night.  In spite of that (or maybe because of that), I found my pace gravitatng towards 8:00/mile.  First mile was nice and easy, warmup, then picked up the pace a bit for the rest of the run.  Total time was 40:36, average pace of 8:07/mile. 3-4 more easy miles this evening (I really mean it!), and then I will have my long run tomorrow morning.

PM - ran another 3 easy/medium miles.  Forgot to bring the Garmin - I was in a hurry to get in my run.  Total time was something like 23:51 - average pace of 7:57/mile.

AM - was planning on my long run of 16 miles, with an 8 mile tempo at MP.  I slept very poorly, and felt very tired this morning, but was still up to try the challenge.  Forgot the Garmin again, was too tired to remember it.  Went to the high school track.  First four miles warmup, total time 33:32, average pace of 8:23/mile.  Took a break, took some clif shot blocks, was wearing my 2-bottle fuel belt.  Then I started the tempo - I ran this too fast to sustain for 8 miles, especially on about 4 hours of sleep.  Ended up only doing 5 miles.  My lungs were doing OK, but my legs were completely shot.  Total time for the 5 mile tempo was 36:00 flat - average of 7:12/mile.  This is probably too fast for my MP, based on my experience this morning - a more realistic goal is going to be 7:30/mile, which will still net me a 3:15.  After the 5 mile tempo, took a break, then ran 4 more easy miles - average pace of 8:40/mile.  Total distance of 13 miles.  I am a little bummed, but will take it in stride.  My body probably needs a little lighter mileage, and I think I am going to hold off on the tempo runs until after I hit 20 miles - I am just not ready for it.  I may or may not get in a few more miles this evening to hit my original goal of 16 miles - depends on how I am feeling.

AM - 5 easy miles.  Was able to keep the pace slow.  It was very muggy out this morning, my shirt was soaked at the end of my run.  Total time was 42:03, average pace of 8:25/mile.  Another 3-4 miles this evening for a good start to the week.  This week I think I will do a slow long run, and may put in a few tempo miles during the week.  Everything feels good today, my quads were only sore for the first 15-20 seconds of my run, and then they loosened up and felt good for the rest of the run.

PM - ran another 3 easy miles - it was hot.  The rest of this week is not looking good either . . . we are supposed to break our all-time record of number of days above 110 degrees.  I never thought I would say I can't wait for summer to be over . . . total time was 24:32, average pace of 8:11/mile.  A bit faster than planned, but nothing too concerning.  It was hard to get into a good rhythm this evening, so my pace kind of fluctuated.  I am very much looking forward to pacing Lybi in her 5K this Friday, although with it being super-hot, we will have to see about the pace.  It may end up being even hotter than it was when we did the sunset run for shade. 

AM - ran 7.0 easy miles this morning, with the expectation that I may not be able to run this evening.  Was able to keep a nice easy pace, although I again found myself speeding up at times.  Total time for the run was 48:40, average pace of 8:23/mile.  Nothing special to report, just a nice easy run.

AM - ran 6 easy miles.  It was a bit windy, which made the run a little more difficult than normal.  My legs also took a little while to get going.  However, I was able to keep the pace nice and easy.  Total time for the run was 51:06, average pace of 8:31/mile.  I feel good about this effort.  'Nother couple miles planned for this evening.

PM - ran another 4 easy miles to get a total of 10 today.  I was able to keep the pace pretty easy - although not at 8:45 pace, I was fairly close.  Total time for the run was 34:22, average pace of 8:35/mile.  Felt good, I had gotten a bruise on my forefoot this morning from stepping on a large rock in the road I didn't see, and I could feel it a little bit, but not too much.  I am starting to feel St. George fever coming on.  Thanks to all for the inspiring comments, I feel more motivated to be able to get in a good tempo this Saturday.  I have been running at the track, but am going to hit the road this week for my long run.  I really, really, really wish the weather would cool down a little bit before St. George.  I am also really looking forward to our 5K this Friday.  I think I feel courageous enough to squirt Lybi with freezing water to cool her off . . . <grin> 

AM - ran 6.2 easy miles.  Legs felt a little tired, but otherwise felt pretty good.  Nothing to complain about, no pain in my calves or any other parts of my body.  Lybi and I agree that stretching before I ran was probably causing problems with my muscles.  Since I have moved to stretching after the run, along with trying to have my first mile be nice and easy to warm up, I have not had any problems at all.  Tomorrow is race day.

PM - ran 3 miles.  0.5 mile warmup, then took off at MP - my legs just wanted to go this evening, so I obliged.  There were the most beautiful clouds just before sunset, I assume from the remnants of Hurricane Dean.  Total time for the run was 23:11, average pace of 7:44/mile.  That includes middle 2 miles of around 7:15/mile.  Everything feels good, even though it was hot out and I was sweating a lot, my lungs and legs felt good.  Lybi and I decided that since I will be running 18 miles on Saturday, I am going to take a morning off and get plenty of sleep tonight, and will run the race with her tomorrow plus warmup, for around 4 miles.  This will give me a chance to tank up and make sure I can finish my run on Saturday.

AM - no running, slept in.

PM - warmed up .5 miles with Lybi, then we ran our 5K with me pacing her.  I am going to preclude this race report by mentioning that it was still about 105 degrees, humid and windy, and 2 of the 3 miles were run on gravel.  First mile, 8:40, pretty good, got held up by some slower runners ahead of us, as we started at the middle of the pack.  Second mile, into the wind and in the gravel, not fun, 9:18.  I wore my fuel belt, and every time Lybi needed a little drink, she would say "water!".  There was a fair amount of dust in the air, but I hydrated well before the race so that I could give all my water to Lybi.  There were also two water stops, and each time, I grabbed a cup of ice cold water and threw it on her.  It's not every day you get to throw water on your wife and live to tell the story . . . Third mile, 9:04.  Lybi was suffering a bit from the heat (I could tell), but she managed to pick it up at the end.  I was very proud of her.  The Garmin measured the course short, but I'm not complaining . . . All in all, considering the factors involved (heat, surface, wind, dust), I thought that Lybi did a great job.  I told her she has to run another one when the weather cools down, and I think she will see a noticeable improvement.  According to the Tinman heat index, a temperature of 110 degrees would be a 12% performance difference.  I'll give her 10%, which would still be a noticeable improvement.  I am so proud of her.  Did I say that already?

AM - WOOOOHOOOO!  I did it!  18 miles!  Looks like taking it easy yesterday really paid off.   That and probably the pizza at 9:00 - oops . . . I mean, getting to bed on time, yeah, that's what I meant . . . total time for the run was 2:33:36, average pace of 8:31/mile.  I feel exceptionally good about this run.  I know for sure I could have done a couple more miles on this run, but I actually got stopped by mother nature.  I ran 6, then took some gel and water, then ran 10 more, then more gel and water (I also stopped at mile 12 for some additional water).  2 more miles to go, I was thinking of doing 19, but at mile 17, the faucets turned on full blast, thanks to the remnants of hurricane Dean.  I decided that it would be prudent to head home, especially considering the lightning.  Picked it up on the last mile to get home, I was totally drenched.  There had actually been lightning around since I started my run early this morning, but I said a prayer and felt good about continuing.  I am so excited . . . a bit drained of energy right now, but still very excited.  My legs felt good throughout the run until the last couple of miles, where I felt like my feet were pounding on the pavement a bit more.  In fact, my forefeet feel a little bit bruised . . . it may be time to get a new pair of shoes pretty soon.  I also weighed myself after my run, and I was at 160.  This is the lowest I have been since Lybi and I were married 10 years ago.  What else to say - I am very happy about my training, and about my performance, and about this run, and I feel like I am going to be so much more prepared for St. George this year.  There is no doubt I will be able to run a PR, the only question is by how much.  At this point, looks like it could be anywhere from 40-50 minutes.  Hot dog!  This is also a new record for me for weekly mileage at just under 56.

AM - 5.5 easy miles.  No soreness from the long run on Saturday, which is a good thing.  Still hot out - wishing it would cool down a bit before SGM so that I will be a little better acclimatized to the conditions.  Total time for the morning run was 46:52, average pace of 8:31/mile.  This run felt good.  As a matter of fact, the only sore part of me was my ankle, which I turned at the 5K on Friday when we were running on the gravel that was not well-lit.  Everything else feels good.  I am looking forward to doing 20 miles already.

PM - ran 4 miles.  Started off fairly easy, although a bit faster than this morning, then gradually sped up.  At first I was going to run 3 miles, then I decided to do 4 miles.  At the half-way mark, I decided I was feeling a bit frisky, and sped up.  Last two miles at MP, final mile in 7:07.  Mornings seem to be the time for me to have a nice relaxing run, and for some reason, I tend to want to run faster in the evenings.  However, I need to remind myself that any MP effort mileage should really be at about 7:30/mile, no faster.

On a side note, I was overjoyed to find out that Lybi won her age division - first medal for her!  Again, I am so proud of her.  Running is just one more thing that we can do together to grow closer and stronger. 

AM - Ran 6 easy miles.  Legs were a little bit tired from the MP miles last night, but no complaints.  I got to see the very end of the lunar eclipse - that was pretty cool - just wish it would have been a bit later in the morning so I could have seen it entirely.  Oh well, there are certainly more important things in life (like getting enough sleep!).  Total time for the run this morning was 51:13, average pace of 8:32/mile.  This seems to be about the pace that my body has decided is considered "easy run" pace, as this is also the pace that I did my long runs at.  I am not going to try to slow down any more and end up messing up my form, I'll just keep things where they are, especially with less than 6 weeks to go.

AM - 5.5 easy miles.  Legs felt very spunky, I had to concentrate on keeping the pace around 8:30/mile.  The entire run felt easy, I take this as a good sign.  Total time for the run was 36:40, average pace of 8:29/mile.

PM - AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!  I did another easy run, felt out of sync and clunky, but was determined to slog through it.  At the end of the run, my left calf (more lower soleus) started to tighten up, and continued to do so until it was painful, at which point I immediately stopped and walked the last .25 miles back home.  It was hard to control the feelings of disappointment and discouragement last night.  I iced it immediately, did a little bit of stretching, and had my wife rub it last night.  Feels a <little> better this morning, but I will obviously be taking a couple days off to see how it feels.  I may have to either shorten or cancel my long run this weekend.  Right now, the most important thing is St. George.  I know that I have been preparing extensively, and I will still be able to get in a 20-miler, but I may not be able to do the two I was originally planning on - one this week, then one next week.