Cool Runnings!

AM - 6.0 easy miles.  5.2 miles with the Garmin, total time was something like 42:44, average pace of 8:13/mile.  Then 0.8 with Spary, untimed.  My achilles felt much better this morning - I gave it some very gentle massage last night and wore the Strassburg sock again all night.  Was still a little stiff, and took about 1/2 mile to fully warm up.  Temperature is finally cooler again - was in the 50's this morning.

AM - 5.0 easy miles with the Garmin.  Achilles felt good when I woke up, but was fairly stiff when I started running.  If anyone has any suggestions or experience with a stiff or sore achilles tendon, please feel free to post.  Total time for topday's run was 40:27, average pace of 8:05/mile.

AM - Woke up early to watch the Men's Marathon Olympic Trials.  I was absolutely amazed at what Ryan Hall did at about the 16 mile mark - he totally demolished the competition, and finished in a new OT record of 2:09:02 (and this on a hilly course, too!).  I was also ecstatic to see Brian Sell finish in third for a berth on the team.  He personifies the blue-collar worker - runs 160 miles/week, works part-time at Home Depot, doesn't have the most talent, but is the hardest worker.  Congrats to Paul on his finishing time of 2:22:34 - a PB for a non-St. George marathon.  Here is the link to the results (unofficial):

http://www.usatf.org/events/2008/OlympicTrials-Marathon-Men/results.asp

Once the race was over, I was off to the track to do my speed workout.  Being pumped up from watching the marathon probably helped.  Took my two oldest to the track in the double jogging stroller - about 2.5 miles easy, no time.  Got to the track, stretched, let them run around and started my workout.  Here are the splits:

800 meter interval #	Time
1	2:51
2	2:45
3	2:48
4	2:47
5	2:51
6	2:48

I had thoughts of quitting after the 4th 800 meter interval, but was able to tell myself to push through it.  I am very happy about that.  Lybi came and picked up the boys from the track, and I cooled down back home, again not timed.  I am planning on putting in another couple of miles this evening to get me up to 10 for the day.

On a sad note, I read that Ryan Shay collapsed at about the 5 1/2 mile mark during the marathon trials and later died.  He was only 28 years old.  Now I know why the ambulance was on the course.  This really casts a somber light on the trials, in spite of the amazing stories of those who made the team, and shows you anything can happen, often for reasons unknown to us.  Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife and family right now.

AM - ran 5.0 easy miles.  Did not feel any lingering soreness from my speed workout on Saturday.  Pace felt nice and comfortable, my achilles felt better this morning.  Total time was 40:30, average pace of 8:06/mile.  Two weeks to go until my 5K - I am already getting excited.  I know this is a challenging course, so I don't know quite what to expect, but we will see.  I am planning on running the course a couple times next weekend to get a feel for the tangents and where I can push hard and where to lay off a bit.

PM - ran another 2.5 miles.  Ended up picking up the pace quite a bit because it felt so good.  I was thinking about something Ryan Hall had said about his 1/2 marathon American record in Houston, where his feet were just popping off the ground.  I felt kind of this way this evening.  Total time was 17:10 for the 2.5 miles, average pace of 6:52/mile, and this includes the first 1/2 mile somewhere between 7:30 and 8:00/mile.  The last two miles were probably more like 1/2 marathon pace, but they sure felt good.

AM - ran 6.0 easy miles.  The weather was beautiful, about 60 degrees.  My achilles was stiff again when I first woke up, but I walked around on it and loosened it up before I started running.  That helped quite a bit.  It was still a bit stiff when I started out, but loosened up quickly.  I felt like I found my easy stride today and felt like my form was very good.  Something I think that has been helping my form has been to work on my core.  Every morning, I have been doing 2 sets of the following:

15 slow crunches (legs bent, feet on the floor, raise up and hold it for 2 seconds)

30 leg lifts

12 bicycle crunches (these are killer)

Then I roll over and do 15 superman exercises to work on my back.

I think this is really helping me to run with better form, and is probably helping my posture overall.  Total time for the run this morning was 47:54, average pace of exactly 7:59/mile.

AM - 5 easy miles.  Slept in a little bit because <tragedy> our second son, Joseph, had previously had crowns on his molars due to severe cavities.  One of his crowns broke off last night along with the rest of the tooth.  So we get to go in to the dentist this morning to figure out what should be done.  He will probably need a false molar or something like that to make sure his teeth don't fill in the gap before his permanent teeth come in.  Pace was easy this morning, I wasn't really looking at the Garmin, although my mile splits were a little faster than I had planned.  Total time for the run was 39:47, average pace of 7:57/mile.  Achilles still felt stiff this morning, but Lybi gave my calves and achilles a real good massage with the rolling pin (boy did that feel good, they were pretty tight, I think, from my speed workout on Saturday).  I will continue to do this as well as anything else I can think of, and see how they do over the winter.

AM - 3.75 easy miles.  I'll keep my entry short today.  Total time was 30:22 for the morning run, average pace of 8:06/mile.  Achilles was sore and stiff again this morning.  Found a stretching exercise that goes along with what Ian was saying - doing reverse calf raises.  Tried doing them this morning, determined I have very poor balance . . . Heh.  Did my core exercises.  They are starting to feel a little easier, although they still give me a major burn by the time I am done.

PM - 3.25 easy miles.  Time was 25:38, average pace of 7:53/mile.  First mile ended up being a garbage mile in 7:42, the rest were at a good pace.  I was still feeling the pasta salad I ate at 5:30 for dinner, and I had run 2 hours earlier - another Heh.  I guess I am one of those runners that does not do well with food in my stomach.  I seem to always run better in the morning, on an empty stomach, or late in the evening, with about 4 hours between dinner and my run.

AM - didn't run, slept in a bit, because I stayed up late to watch the BYU-TCU football game (BYU won!).

PM - 5.1 easy miles with Samuel and Adam in the double jogging stroller.  It was pretty warm out - upper 80's, I think.  I am looking forward to the cooler weather in the afternoon, hopefully to stay now.  It is supposed to be in the 70's by Sunday.  For those that have jogging strollers, I actually have a trick that I use to allow me to work up a better rhythm.  Once I get the stroller going in a straight line, I use one hand and place it in a location that will allow the stroller to continue to go straight, and I swing the other arm as normal.  Every so often, I switch hands on the stroller to make sure both arms get a chance to swing freely.  It works pretty well for me.  Total time for this afternoon's run was 41:09, average pace of 8:04/mile.  Pretty good for lugging 75 pounds worth of boys on a double jogging stroller.  The pace actually felt pretty good, too - it was not difficult.  My achilles also felt pretty good as well.  I am considering running in the afternoon/evening until my achilles recovers, as that gives it all day to loosen up.  I have noticed it seems to be the stiffest in the morning when I first get up, but whenever I have run in the evening, it hasn't been sore.

AM - went down to Kiwanis park where the NTN Southwest Region Championships 5K race is to be held to run the course and get an idea of how to run it as well as what the course was like.  Took Joseph and Adam with me to run with the double jogging stroller.

So first, a description of the course.  It starts out pretty nice, flat terrain on grass, then moves rather quickly to the packed dirt of the canal road.  This goes on for 3/4 of a mile, then you do a wide u-turn and run on the sidewalk for a while.  Follow the sidewalk left and then down a short but steep hill, and turn right to go under a bridge, then right again back up the same hill on the other side of the road and onto the sidewalk on the other side.  We then run around a baseball/softball field complex, ending up back at the bridge again.  Go under the bridge, then turn right again to go up one mother of a hill.  I am guessing it was about 50 meters long and maybe about 35-40 meters high.  Geez, that was tough, especially pushing a double jogging stroller with 75 pounds of kids.  Back down a gradual hill, then along a lake on the grass.  Cross the path and head around the other side of the lake, smallish hill, then back onto the canal road for a short distance.  Head left to follow the sidewalk, then back onto grass for about 50 meters, then veer right to go up another nasty hill, although not as bad as the first.  Run along the top of the hill for a short distance, then veer left and run back down the hill, gathering a lot of speed (again, especially if you are now letting a double jogging stroller with 75 pound of kids pull you down), only to go up the huge hill again (I think they call it All American Hill or something like that - it is one nasty piece of work).  That is the last hill, we then follow the same trail along the lake again, when we get to the far side of the lake, turn right for a bit, then make a sharp left turn to hit the final .2 miles or so.  Holy cow, I may have to readjust my goals.  This is definitely a very challenging course.  I am glad I ran it, because I actually messed up and got myself lost (although I am sure the course will be much more clearly marked next Saturday).  Ended up only running one time, and pushing the stroller all that grass wore me out pretty good.  Total distance was 4.21 miles, average pace of 8:05/mile.

PM - Knew I had to get in some more miles to hit 40 for the week.  Headed out the door after coming back from grocery shopping.  It was a bit hard to find a rhythm at first, and I was laboring a bit more than usual, but after about 0.5 miles, I hit my stride and got into a groove.  At 1 mile, decided I was going to do a tempo run.  Sped up to MP.  Splits are as follows:

Mile 1	7:09
Mile 2	6:57
Mile 3	6:38
Mile 4	6:43

Cooled down for the last 1.1 miles at about 8:00 pace.  Felt like a good workout, achilles felt pretty good.

AM - continued the plan of not running first thing in the morning until my achilles is feeling better.

PM - ran 6.2 easy miles.  I say easy, but they were certainly faster than I was planning - they just felt really good and easy today.  I don't know if it was because it was warmer out, because it was afternoon and I felt nice and warmed up, or what else it was (maybe it was because I got adjusted today by my chiropractor!).  But in any case, it felt good, and I was glad to get out and run.  I am going to go run the 5K course again on Friday just after work - nice and easy, but I want to get my confidence up a little bit for the race on Saturday.

OK, so back to today.  Total time for the run was 48:23, average pace of 7:48/mile.  Kind of sort of garbage miles, but I won't count them as such because it just felt too good.  I will stay at 40 miles for another week or two, then start to increase my miles again.  On a side note, I just signed up for a thanksgiving day turkey trot in Raleigh, NC, since we will be visiting with my parents.  This should be interesting.  The last time I ran an 8K, I went into shock at the end because I had been sick the week prior, and my body couldn't deal with the exertion.  I am certain that won't happen this time.  However, since I am running two races within a week, I will not be doing any speedwork this week.

AM - no running again

PM - Ran a total of 7.0 miles.  3.5 miles pushing Joseph and Adam in the double jogging stroller, total time was 28:11, average pace of 8:03/mile.  Then 1.4 miles later with Lybi and all the boys, plus Sparky, no time.  Then another 2.1 miles by myself, total time of 15:52, average pace of 7:33/mile.  This felt the best of all the running, nice and smooth and relaxed.  I always like it when I hit my stride and feel relaxed when I am running.

AM - no run again.

PM - ran 6.2 miles with Samuel and Adam in the double jogging stroller.  I was feeling the weight of Samuel today - he is our biggest boy, so there was more of an effort today, but the run still felt good.  Total time for the run was 50:32, average pace of 8:09/mile.  With the stroller, this was probably more like an average of 7:45/mile or so, and felt like it.  Although my breathing was still good, my legs felt a little bit dead at the end of the run.  Getting excited already for the two races I have - one on Saturday, and one next Thursday.

AM - no run

PM - ran 6.1 easy miles.  It rained out this afternoon and evening, so it was quite nice out.  I lost the sound on my Garmin a couple days ago, and support had me try a couple things to get it back (why I don't know), including upgrading the unit software version and chipset version, then performing a master reset, which lost all of my settings.  Still no sound.  Grrr.  Just got an email back from them, I will have to send it in to have it fixed.  Double Grrr.  Oh well.  I will send it back as soon as we get back from Thanksgiving.  Total time for today's run was 48:05, average pace of 7:52/mile.  Felt a little clunky today, couldn't find that rhythm during any part of the run.  Some runs are like that.  It was still good, and I was glad I was able to get out.  I was a bit worried, because it was actually thunderstorming out, and the lightning was pretty near and appeared to be either hitting the ground or getting very close to it.  Thankfully that had dissipated by the time I went out to run.

AM - no running

PM - ran the NTN Southwest Region Championships 5K course again, sans double jogging stroller.  I had two goals this evening:  1) I wanted to get a better idea of what the course was like, and  2) I wanted to see how I could run the course, while keeping an even breathing rhythm throughout, which would give me a better idea of how hard I can push tomorrow.  I was able to accomplish both goals.  Both of the hills, although still pretty tough, don't seem quite as daunting without the stroller.

Total time for the run was 23:11, average pace of 7:27/mile.  Probably a bit faster than I had planned on, but it still felt good, my legs did not feel dead at the end, and I felt better about the course.  I have no idea what the competition for the course will be like, since coaches can run in the citizens race as well, but I think that I will just go ahead and run my own race, and if I happen to be in the top ten towards the end, I will push it really hard.  We will see . . .

AM - Ran the NTN Southwest Region Championships Citizen's 5K. Took off, and several people lit out ahead of me - obviously a fairly loaded race. I decided I would just run my race and not worry about placing. Legs felt a little rubbery, I was wondering if maybe my run last night had anything to do with that until I got to the first mile split and it was 5:50 on the nose. Breathing was already kind of hard, kept going as fast I could maintain. Second mile was around 6:20, as far as I know - I didn't bring my Garmin, and no one called out the two mile split, but there was a race clock that showed 12:10 when I ran by. Didn't get my 3rd mile split, had two tough hills to run up. Breathing was pretty ragged by now, and legs were pretty dead. Managed to collect myself after the last hill, didn't get passed by anyone, but didn't pass anyone else, either. Not sure of my place, but time (according to my watch) was 19:14, a 30 second PR (on a tough course!), average pace of 6:11/mile. This is probably about all I could expect from this course. On a flat road course, I feel certain I could have dropped another minute from my 5K time. However, a PR is a PR. Will run some slow easy miles this evening to hit 40 for the week again. BTW, for those of you who follow HS XC, Luke Puskedra destroyed the previous course record. He ran a 14:45 on the course, which averages to 4:45/mile. He broke the former course record by some 50 seconds. That kid is good - he has not lost a race yet.

PM - ran 8 easy miles. Felt pretty good, no real soreness from the race (I took a nice hot bath a couple hours after the race to loosen things up and get the blood flowing - that seemed to help). Took the Garmin with me. Makes me wish I had remembered to take it this morning so that I could get my splits. I also noticed that they did not post the results of the citizens 5K on the race website. Poo Poo. Glad I wore a watch to record my time. Averaged approximately 8:04/mile for the first 7 miles, then decided to pick it up for the last mile, ran MP for the last mile with a split of 6:59. Total time for the run was 1:03:02, average pace of 7:54/mile. It was nice and cool out, and I loved running, even though we have a lot of stuff yet to do tonight. We are flying out to Raleigh on Monday, and this is pretty much the only time we have to get our shopping done for the things we need for the trip.

AM - got up early to run, since I will not have the chance to do so later today.  We will be traveling all day to visit my parents for Thanksgiving in Raleigh, NC.  Achilles was a bit sore and tender at first, took it easy, then it warmed up for the rest of the run.  I am glad to have gotten this run in this morning.  Ran a total of 5.5 miles, total time of 42:40, averge pace of 7:45/mile.  This was mainly due to the last mile, during which I picked up the pace to around MP.  I am looking forward to being able to run with Lybi while we are in Raleigh, since we are staying with my parents.  I am also looking forward to the 8K on Thanksgiving.

AM - ran 5 easy miles with Lybi.  The community where my parents live is totally rolling hills everywhere - hardly any of the run was flat.  Lybi and I made a deal on the run - she hung on to the back of my shirt on the uphills, and I would do fartlek work to get in an additional workout.  We didn't get the time, because I apparently stopped the timer on the Garmin for about 1.3 miles of the run, but we got to use the route feature of the Garmin today - HOW COOL!  We ran until we hit 2.5 miles, and then I went into the navigation menu and chose the option to return to the starting point (after I had marked my parents' house).  It first showed a map, but then when I hit the mode button again, it brought up a screen with a big huge arrow on one half of the screen, along with distance and time left (based on our pace).  This was so totally cool.  It even warned me of upcoming turns (probably would have beeped as well, but the sound on our Garmin is messed up - we are going to send it in when we get back from vacation and have it fixed).

My Dad, my younger brother and I are going to play a little golf tomorrow morning, so I am going to try to get in a run before then.

AM - Ran 6.2 miles before we went out golfing.  Achilles felt pretty good.  I started out nice and easy, although the downhills really skewed my splits, much more so than the uphills.  I didn't feel like I was working that hard on the uphills, my pace may have been around 8:30, but I usually went down around 6:00 pace on the downhills.  Total time for the run was 46:11, average pace of 7:27/mile.  Breathing was good, legs felt good.  All in all, a good run.  Looking forward to the race tomorrow.  It may rain, we will have to see.  Finally got to look at the course map, doesn't look too bad.  It starts with some downhill, then there are a few small hills in the middle, and appears to finish uphill, but nothing too bad.

Ran the Ridgewood Thanksgiving Day Turkey Trot.  Placed 8th overall, 1st in my age division.  This course was more difficult than I had anticipated.  I looked at the course map and put it on gmap-pedometer yesterday, there were a few hills, but it didn't look too bad.  However, when I ran the race, the first 2 miles were flat or downhill, and everything else was pretty much uphill.  Killer.  Full race report to follow.

OK - time for the race report.  I had no idea what the competition would be like, although it was fairly apparent just from some of the sponsored gear that there were some fast runners.  I decided I would run my own race, and just see how things played out.

First mile:  All flat and/or slightly downhill.  I started a little bit behind the leaders, so that slowed me down just a little bit, having to thread my way through some congestion, but not too much.  First mile was 6:02.  I felt really good on this mile.  If the course would have been flat, I am fairly certain I could have kept up this pace.

Second mile:  Same as the first mile, all flat and/or downhill.  I started to pick off some runners who had started too fast, and was running up with the first female runners at this point.  I still felt very confident.  Second mile was 5:54, passed the two mile mark in 11:56.  This is faster than the 5K last Saturday, but did not include any uphill.

Third mile:  Started out flat, with quite a few corners to navigate, then we went steep uphill, short flat section, steep uphill, short flat section, steep uphill, short flat section, turn right, another uphill, followed by another flat section.  Mile 3 was 6:24, mainly because of the flat sections during the first portion of this mile.

Fourth mile:  More uphill, followed by flat section, and a downhill.  My legs were pretty trashed at this point from all the uphills, and I could not maintain 6:00 pace.  My breathing was already ragged from all the uphills, and did not recover the rest of the race.

Fifth mile:  The entire last mile was gently sloping uphill, plus we had a brisk wind blowing in our faces.  I tried to draft off one of the runners who had passed me, but I just could not keep up.  The first female runner was just in front of me at this point.  I ended up timing my kick wrong, started to push with 1/2 mile to go, mistakenly thinking the race was 4.8 miles.  But I did manage to pass the top female runner with about 400 meters to go.  Could not catch the runner in front of me.  I was really suffering at this point, breathing was very ragged and fast, legs somehow managed to give me a little more with a couple hundred yards to go.

The course ended up being a bit long - the Garmin measured 5.01, but this could potentially be to some poor tangents.  This is only .05 longer than the course was supposed to be.  I staggered around for a few minutes, went and got some gatorade and a banana, followed that with some more gatorade and a piece of bagel, then waited around for about 1 1/2 hours just to found out if I had won an award in my age division or not.  My dad was there to cheer me (Lybi had to stay home with the boys), and was fairly certain that I had placed in the top ten overall, which boded well for an age division award.  When I finally saw the results before the awards ceremony, I was a bit surprised to find out that I had won my age division.  As an award, I got a huge Mizuno duffel bag and a $10 gift certificate off a pair of Mizuno shoes at the local running store.  The duffel bag is cool, but I probably won't be using the gift certificate.

This was a well-organized race (except for the wait for the results), which experienced massive growth from last year.  Last year, they had 540 entrants.  This year, there were over 1400, and so many that they ran out of both race bibs and timing chips.  In spite of that snafu, and in spite of the icky nasty hills, I really enjoyed the race, and was glad to be able to run on Thanksgiving day.  I feel much better about having eaten a lot for Thanksgiving knowing that I burned a lot of calories this morning.

Did not run yesterday - took a break, after having done two high-intensity runs in less than a week, one last Saturday, and one on Thursday.  We also did not have a lot of time, so I did not feel too bad about not running yesterday.  My calves and hamstrings were both pretty sore yesterday as well.  I was debating whether to run at all today as well, but with some encouragement from my wife, decided to get out for a run and shake out the soreness.  I was initially planning on doing 6 miles, but when I got to 3 miles, I felt really good, so I decided I would do some more before heading back.  Kept the pace pretty steady, no fast miles today, just recovery pace.  Total time for the 7.5 miles was 1:00:39, average pace of 8:05/mile.  Felt good to get out.

AM - 5 easy miles. Achilles felt better, still a bit stiff at first, but not as bad as before. I will keep up with the stretching and reverse calf raises. I think this is helping. Pace felt good this morning, a bit chilly as compared to what it has been previously, only about 50 degrees. Total time for the run this morning was 39:26, average pace of 7:53/mile. After looking at the Garmin, I noticed that each of my miles was progressively faster than the previous, without intending to do so.

On another note, I have been considering the possibility of running Moab with Lybi. I am still not sure if I am going to do it or not, and it will depend on whether Lybi's mom is able to watch the boys for us or not. If yes, I will register as well, and will go with her if I get in. If not, I will stay home with the boys while she goes.

PM - another easy run - just 2 miles to get me to 7 for the day.  I am going to increase my mileage to 45 this week, and will hold it there for a few weeks, then go up to 50.  Total time for the run this evening was 15:45, average pace of 7:52/mile. 

AM - 5.1 easy miles. It was a bit nippy out this morning as well - probably more normal weather for this time of year here. We have been having unseasonably warm weather. I, for one, am looking forward to cooler weather here. Total time for my run this morning was 39:36, average pace of 7:46/mile. I must have picked it up again as I got warmed up. I wasn't looking at the Garmin on the run, and Lybi has it right now, so I will have to check my splits later on. I do know that there was one point during the 4th mile where I started to pick it up, and forced myself to slow down. No tempo miles this week, I need to have a full week of just recovery runs.

PM - ran with the boys.  First 0.43 with Joey in 5:30, then 0.78 with Joey and Adam in the jogging stroller in 6:45, then another .79 with Samuel in 9:32.  Average pace for the combination of runs was 10:53/mile, helped generously by my average of 8:36/mile on the middle leg.

I noticed an odd thing today - the top of my left foot has been fairly painful today.  I don't know if maybe my laces were too tight, or maybe I have a nerve that is somewhat pinched.  I will ice the foot this evening, and perhaps wear the sock tonight in case some tightness is causing one of the bones in my foot to slip out of place. 

AM - 5.1 easy miles with the Garmin.  The top of my foot is still kind of painful, but more or less went away during the run.  Right now, it is not too bad unless I try to dorsiflex my foot.  I managed to keep all of my miles slower than 8:00 today, which is an accomplishment compared to yesterday.  Total time for the run was 41:39, average pace of 8:10/mile.  I will be happy if I can keep up this kind of pace the rest of the week and not overdo it.

PM - 2.05 miles, 0.62 with Joseph, then 1 mile with Sam, then the rest by myself.  I tried to focus on running smooth and relaxed on my run.  Felt good.  I also re-laced my shoes using the Lydiard lacing technique, and my foot felt much better on the run.  I will ice it again, and hopefully it will feel better in a couple of days.  I don't think it is going to bother me enough to keep me from running, however.

AM - did not run, I was up too late last night, so I decided to sleep in to get enough sleep.

PM - ran 6.2 easy miles in the evening after the boys had gone to bed.  Tried to focus again on relaxed running form, didn't feel as easy as yesterday, though.  I was probably a bit tired from the day.  I have also had a lot of stress at work this week to deal with, and that has probably had an effect on me as well.  Total time was 49:26, average pace of 7:58/mile.  Stretched and then did my core exercises. 

AM - didn't run again.

PM - 3.0 easy miles (so far).  Lybi still needed to run another 2.5 miles, and I had to pick up our minivan, so I ran to BrakeMasters, in a (very) roundabout way to get to 3 miles.  It has been raining out all day (HALLELUJAH!), and the run was absolutely blissful.  It felt very, very easy.  When I hit the stop button on the Garmin, I was amazed to see the time was 23:04.  I was totally not expecting this, but it must have been an effect of running in the rain.  Needless to say, we do not get that chance here very often.  Mile splits were 7:43, 7:40 and 7:38.  Depending on how late Lybi gets back, this may be the only run I get in today, and that would be okay.  I am planning on doing a minimum of 12 total miles tomorrow, probably broken up into two separate runs.