Training in Montana

5 miles early this morning before yet again another morning meeting. Felt pretty good. Tomorrow will run with a couple friends on some trails in the area. They'll be doing 10 minute miles; might be difficult to go that slow.

AP: 8:34

Planned to help some friends do 18 on some trails near town but they bailed yesterday, so I decided to run from home. Got up early, dressed & headed to our mud room to grab my stuff & remembered I'd put my warm clothes in the washer yesterday morning, intending to wash everything before my long run but forgot to start the machine. Rats. I'd been looking forward to doing 14 up my Veyo hill and not being able to do that bummed me out. Changed into indoor treadmill clothes & went downstairs to run on the TM. Didn't feel like it, so played Black Ops 2 on XBox 360 for an hour, then I felt like running. Watched the last X-Men movie and ran for 6 miles. As I was finishing my cool down my dog (yellow lab) started going nuts, wanting to go for a walk. So I grabbed a long sleeve shirt & headed outside for a run. Ran down my road and back up it (400 foot drop in 1.5 miles) for another 3. I felt great. Could've gone another 4. I ran solidly up the road, without stopping or feeling like stopping. That made me really happy.

No idea of average pace. TM was mostly 6.5 and 7.0, but finished at 10.0 for the last 0.1 mile. 

Alarm woke me at 5:30 am. I'd heard the wind howling in the night so hopped on the local hourly weather web page, and wind gusts of 47 mph. No thanks. Kids sleeping downstairs near the treadmill as they have a scheduled day off school today, so no morning indoor run. Enjoyed another 1.5 hrs of sleep. Will run at lunch time indoors at the Y. Yesterday we had a crazy little storm blow in. At 1:53 pm it was 54 F, 9 mph wind. By 2:40 pm it was 36 F, 59 mph gusts, wind chill 22 F, snowing and lightning, then dropped below freezing by 3:17 pm. Very cool storm. All the cars and buildings in town have frozen snow on one side from the sideways snow.

Noon: went to the Y, planning on doing 5 miles, but at the last minute I decided to do Boot Camp instead. It was pretty fun and it'll be nice to be super sore in a couple days. Nothing beats not being able to walk.

6 frigid miles on a gorgeous morning. I'm already in mourning of the loss of daylight beginning on Sunday. Today there were no clouds and the Eastern sky slowly warmed up with light and just before getting home the sun peaked over the mountains. Beautiful. Temp was 9 degrees F with no wind, and it was actually very bearable. Bam would've been curled up on his bed covered in his down duvet crying at the thought of the cold but for this burly hunting Montana man with hairy legs, it wasn't a problem. I recently bought me a new pullover for cold days like this, and it works great but is a bit warm in the arms. The sweat dripped through at my elbows and created elbow icicles. Way cool. The pullover covers my butt and that's one of the best parts, to have a warm rear after the run. I did run a bit slower today due to Boot Camp kicking my tail yesterday. I think tomorrow I'll be even slower with the full sore muscle effects coming on.

AP: 8:52

5 miles this morning wearing my new Salomon XT Wings 3 shoes. Great name. I like the rigidity of the shoe, but my heel slides a bit and my ankle bone hits the shoe. I could see the ankle bone chafing being a big deal so I might try a thicker insert. The best part of the shoe is that I hardly felt the rocks under my feet on the gravel road. It was odd to hear my feet clunk, clunk, clunk on hard packed dirt or the few steps of pavement. First time having a stiff trail shoe, so we'll see how it goes. At $140 a pair ($119 with my discount) I'd better like them a lot. I'll call my shoe store to see how much time I have before I can take them back.

AP: 8:48. I might go to Boot Camp again today. Better to go now and build up muscles than to not go and get into high miles in 4-6 weeks with no muscle buildup. Not sure how some people do doubles - it wears me out. I guess it's all about practice.

Noon: Boot Camp. I need to stop reading RAD's blog. She does double & triple workouts in a day and isn't THAT much younger than me, so I think I can do it too. It's pretty inspiring. I'd told myself earlier in the week that I'd do Boot Camp once per week so I can keep cross training. Today after my 5 I thought BC at lunch sounded fun. Boy, is it a great workout. I feel worse after an hour of this than I do with a 20 mile run. I guess because with 20 miles I'm using muscles that are pretty strong, and BC is using all these muscle groups that have been in the witness protection program.

Woke up to run, but decided against it so I built a fire in the wood burning stove, read a little, watched some TV, then got the kids up for school. Very relaxing morning.

Thursday is normally my rest day and I did two Boot Camp workouts this week, so I figure my body needs a day off. I'll thank me later.

6 miles, 32 degrees (supposedly). That's the temperature at the airport, which is 7.5 miles away as the crow flies. I'm thinking it was colder than that at my place as I had to put the gaitor on my chin and around my ears from miles 1-3. I was getting chilled.

Run felt pretty good. Legs are no longer sore from Boot Camp on Monday, but back and shoulders are sore from Wednesday. Felt pretty good after the run as I got warmed up nicely.

Not sure about the shoes. Tightened them up to stop my heels from slipping and that worked, and the ankle bone didn't rub as much as I wasn't moving around so much, but I felt a blister starting on my inside right foot. I don't get blisters. Only blister I've ever had from a race was on the 50K, and it was in a weird spot only because I was running downhill very fast. The jury is still out. Deliberations will continue tomorrow morning.

AP: 8:38

10 miles this morning up my Veyo hill. I was cruising up, feeling oh-so-good, thinking how my workouts from the week plus my rest day helped me so much. At 5 miles I turned around into a wall of wind. Who knew how powerful a North wind could be? I pushed myself pretty hard today. Times don't show it as I had 3-4 minutes of wardrobe changes.

AP 8:56

Tough to wake up this morning. Got to bed by 10:30, which is good for me, alarm for 5:30 am, and I just laid there for a while. I kept rolling over to check the clock, and finally convinved myself to roll out of bed a little after 6. Got 3 miles in with the high beam on my headlamp. Tough to revert to darkness when I'd been able to ditch the light the past couple weeks. 37 degrees and some wind, and temps falling. Just a short little run. Better than sleeping, right? Right? Plan to hit BC at noon.

AP: 8:56

Noon: Went to Boot Camp. Holy crap, Chantelle hates Mondays. After every station we ran stairs & 1 lap around the indoor track (1/17 mile) so kept the HR very high the entire 45 minutes. I am exhausted. I think my legs are a bit tired still from Saturday's hard push up and down the hills, plus this switch to Daylight Savings Time is messing with my body. I will sleep very well tonight.

Tough to wake up this morning, again. Darn DST. Nearly kept sleeping, but I'm turning over a new leaf and not going to take rest days when I'm tired. I'll go slower and maybe not as far, but miles are miles and better than sleeping. I always take 2 rest days and that's enough.

Fairly cold this morning, 24 F with 12 mph wind, so 13 F wind chill. I was warm enough but I'm ready to be sweating like a madman wearing only a tank top. Bring on summer! Supposed to be 65 F tomorrow, and I'm okay with that.

My feet were dragging this morning. If I was feeling better I would've done 6, but knowing I was tired I went out to do 4 (one more than yesterday) but knew I'd be able to talk myself into doing 5. Once I got to 5 I thought about doing 6, but didn't want to push my luck. 5 is a good number for tired legs. As much as I dislike running with a headlamp, the stars were gorgeous. I had to stop a few times just to stare at the sky.

AP: 9:09.

That new leaf I turned over must've kept turning, cuz the alarm clock goblins got me this morning. I switched the alarm to 6 as I was only planning on 4 miles, and when 6 came around I turned off the alarm and lay there a minute...or 28. By that time, it was no sense in waking up to run as the family arises at 7 so I stayed supine. At 7:15 my wife rouses me with a mumble about "we both slept in". Oops. Note to self: when alarm goes off, roll out of bed and hit knees to floor. Tough to sleep in that position. Not impossible, but tough. Boot Camp at Noon.

Noon: Brutal Bodacious Beads-of-Sweat Boot Camp. Excited to do BC today as I slept in earlier and Bam so eloquently pointed out how the loss of a workout means the loss of my entire racing season. C'est la vie. The outside temps improved greatly today, 69 F, so at BC the doors were opened and we ran a lap around the block to warm up. Hard effort, finished about 5th or so (not that it's a race) and felt really good. Rest of the exercises were good but tough, and I had energy. Mid workout she stopped us and we ran 1 more lap around the block. Tougher as we'd done some leg work, but I maintained a solid pace and finished in the top of the pack again. 15 more minutes of exercises then at the end we did yet another lap. Much tougher, tired legs, breathing very hard, but still kept at the front of the pack. The guy who had been leading the other two laps fell way back and I got a little thrill out of that. It was a sweatfest as even my wrists were sweating during the abs part at the end. Yikes.

Really good run today. Temps 44F so only needed tights, a thin pair of gloves, and a headband to cover the ears. Legs felt surprisingly good. Kept a good steady pace the entire way.

Approx Splits (from memory) 9:30, 9:00, 8:56, 7:56, 7:46, 7:42. AP: 8:27

6 miles this fine morning. 46 F outside! Fantastic. Only wish it would stay, but alas, it won't. Switched up my run a little bit, so at about 2.25 I turned left which drops down a bit then back up to the original height by 3 miles, so turning around it again drops down and a nice steady incline back to the original height. A good hill workout. On the return hill I was surprised to see I kept it under a 9 minute pace.

Left outer calf got strained slightly during yesterday's run. Nothing serious, but odd. I don't recall feeling that muscle before.

AP: 8:52

Did 14 this morning. 14 is quite a bit further than 10, which is what I've been doing a lot of on weekends due to time. I haven't run this far in a while & after doing decent miles the past couple days my legs were tired. In fact, I did a marathon worth of mileage the past 3 days. Walked twice the first 3 miles, then hit my brutal hill & my conquering spirit arose. Ran up it all the way, and much more. Walked a couple more times, just for a bit, before the turnaround, then no more breaks until home. Up some of the hills my legs felt almost numb towards the tops and I kind of enjoyed that. Feeling good about my base.

The warm streak ended earlier this morning. 25 and foggy, very slight breeze. Took my neck gaitor just in case, and on the way back I needed it. Seems to be the case on early morning runs on this route. The way up I sweat uphill, but the way back is downhill and not as much heat. I wore the gaitor the last 5 miles home and glad I had it, or I would've been chilled.

Total Time 2:12:12 (cool). AP 9:12

Noon Boot Camp. I could tell pretty quickly that my legs are tired from Saturday's distance and hills. I still pushed it pretty hard, probably a bit too hard. When we finished our stations and started ab work, I realized I was spent so I left. No need to kill myself on the first day of the week when my body's telling me I need a little more rest. Glad I didn't run this morning as I had planned to. Woke up and saw the temps had dropped to 14 F. No thanks, and I knew I was going to do BC today so didn't need the extra mileage. Will hit the road in the morning, temps notwithstanding.

6 tough-ish miles this morning. First off, I'm tired of the cold. So ready for warm weather for my morning runs. Second, my legs are tired. Thursday & Friday I did strong intensity 6 miles, Saturday 14 miles up a good hill, and yesterday a fairly legs-intensive Boot Camp. I was happy to go slowly today, although I probably should have cut it short at 4 miles as that would've been enough. Slogged along in a cloudy 25F. Fairly pleasant morning, actually, except for the dark and the cold. Glad I had my chin warmer once again as on the way back the winds had shifted and I was now into a slight headwind. Enough to freeze the hair on my chinny chin chin if not for the awesome warming qualities of stretchy fabric adorning said facial appendage.

AP: 8:58

3 brisk miles this morning. Nice little jaunt in 20F temps. Doing Boot Camp at Noon.

AP: 8:58

Noon: Boot Camp. Brutal. After every other station we ran 2 laps on the 1/17 mile track, and by the end those 2 laps were pretty brutal. I stayed strong and liked how tired I was when running, but keeping the HR up combined with some good exercises meant a great workout. Headband was soaked, so Chantelle worked us hard. Tomorrow is my wife's birthday so no running in the morning. That will be filled with the sounds of making pancakes & sausage for breakfast in bed.

6 treadmill miles at the Y during lunch. Nice and sweaty. 2% incline, warmed at 6.0 for 1/2 mile then at 6.7 for most of the rest. 3% for 1 mile; 7.2 for a bit, but groin started hurting so backed off and no problems. 5 minute cool down.

6 TM miles at the Y whilst watching NCAA basketball. I love March madness! One of these days I'll take the first 2 days off work and go live at Buffalo Wild Wings and watch every game.

Ran this one on 3 different treadmills as I wanted a fan this time and took me a mile to grab one. Yesterday was a sweaty mess and I wanted less of that. 2% incline for the first 5, did .5 at 6.0, 3 miles at 6.7, then bumped to 7.0 for most of it then up and finished the last .25 at 9.6. Nice run. Weight 166 @ the Y. Nice to see it dropping from the Winter 170s.

Will shoot for 10-12 miles tomorrow for a good week.

Early this morning headed to the Hunter's Safety field course with my 11 yr old son and spent 2 hours in 15-20 degree temps. It was awesome. Actually, not a bad morning. Unseasonably cold, but fitting with our mock hunting walk through. Went to the store after and had a nice time with my boy. Got him a few things and looked at birthday presents for his upcoming 12th birthday. A 10/22 Ruger .22 rifle or a compound bow? Decisions, decisions. He's leaning toward the rifle, which is a good choice. Got home and helped around the house a bit then headed for a run.

12 miles up my Veyo hill. Sunny and 29F, no breeze when I left. As has happened a lot lately, on the way up I got too hot at 1.5 miles so stopped and took off my long sleeve shirt so only ran in a short sleeve tech shirt & jacket. Perfect. Got up the hill and the wind started blowing a bit, to my right side. Turned around and it was blowing pretty good NW, and I was heading North. Yay. Pulled out the gaitor I'd stashed in my pocket and it was a lifesaver. An hour later I'm still a bit chilled so without my neck & chin staying warm I would have been really cold. Kept up decent paces and really had a nice run, wind notwithstanding. While I was out the wind gusted to 23 mph, with a 24F wind chill. Thank you spring weather.

AP: 9:16 

4 sub-freezing miles this morning, but I was smokin! 13 F degrees when I started, 12 F when I ended, but no wind so it wasn't bad. Legs a bit cold the first 1/2 mile but soon warmed up. Thank you neck gaitor, for keeping me warm. After the first mile I turned on the jets as I got a bit of a late start; I can't hit Boot Camp today so I wanted a harder effort; will be travelling this week so not as many miles, so wanted a harder effort; and I wanted to see what I could do after a couple months of better training. I was pleased with the results as I felt very controlled. I wonder if I can break 3:20 in a fall marathon? I'll aim for that, providing I can get in the miles needed.

Paces: 9:11, 8:03, 7:26, 7:06. AP: 7:56

6 miles this fine cloudy morning. 30F with a slight breeze, so just chilly enough for the neck warmer the first couple miles, then took it off as I was overheating. Legs were a bit slow today after yesterday's harder effort. Kam's got me thinking about trying for a BQ at the Des News marathon in July. Hmm... I turn 40 this year so it's "only" a 7:28 average mile, and the DNews is a lot of downhill, and Kam will be pushing me after 15 miles, the hardest miles of the course. The howevers include that I've never even run a 1/2 marathon at that speed, the race is at the end of July and the course will heat up considerably during the hardest miles, and I'm not sure my base is there. If I can lose 10 pounds and be around 158 that should shave off 20 seconds per mile, and I've got time between now and then to ramp up my mileage more than I was planning on, and my 50K 5 weeks before is a killer downhill, so my quads will be properly destroyed and rebuilt by then to handle the beating the DNews will give them. I think I might give it a shot! It's kind of exciting to consider.

AP: 8:35

6 miles in sunny St. George. I was hot and my mouth was parched most of the run and I was in heaven. So nice to run in shorts & a tee-shirt and could've been tank or shirtless with no problems. Love it. 

Felt good, pushed it a bit but not too crazy. Don't want to be too worn out for the trip. We went to bed at 1 am last night, up at 7 and drove the rest of the way from SLC to St. George. Kids went swimming with Grandpa, I hit the river trail.

AP: 8:12 

Did the Mayor's Loop this morning from my parent's house. Dad rode with me on the bike while I run. It was nice to have company. Kept the pace pretty healthy. Wonderful temps: 54 F. Ran in shorts, short sleeve shirt, and thin cotton gloves. Arms a bit cold at times, but so nice to run in short sleeves in the dark. 

Paces: 9:24, 8:40, 8:25, 7:54, 8:07, 7:57, 9:02. AP: 8:26 

Did a nice run this morning before going to the Ivins Easter Egg Hunt & pancake breakfast. Ran on the river trail then towards Green Valley. I am spoiled. The river trail is nice and all but I get to run in paradise every day. Varied terrain, beautiful sights, nobody around but the deer and turkeys and other random animals. 

I should've turned around at 5 miles but I wanted to keep going. As I've said before, I'm horrible at math in my head when on a run. I didn't realize I needed to be done before 8, so when I realized that, I had already gone 6 so I picked up my pace on the way back. Ended up being a great progression long run, going much faster at the end of my long run than normal, especially on flat to slight uphill elevations. Run felt great. Love being 1000 feet lower in elevation. 

Paces: 9:25, 9:31, 10:40 (stopped to read the trail map), 9:05, 9:50 (?), 8:41, 8:50, 8:24, 8:27, 8:20, 8:05, 8:25, 8:08. AP: 8:58