Training in Montana

Very weird to have such a long layoff, but a break after the marathon made sense and last week was very busy for me. I've recently accepted a different volunteer position in my church which will keep me pretty busy for the next five years, so I'm hoping that it doesn't affect my running too much. Time will tell.

Got out this morning for 4 miles. Plantar Fascia was a bit tight on the right foot but nothing more than that. Left hip flexor felt tight at the beginning, but warmed up quickly. That was it for the little niggles. The rest of the run went fine. Pretty slow on the up, and max of 8:30 pace on the return trip. It felt okay. Not good, not bad, but nice to be out for a run. I've decided not to pursue a September marathon as that would be a bit much right now for my family, but I want to train for "nothing" harder than I have before, i.e. I want to up my base mileage just for fun and keep my Saturday runs to 14-16 miles. That's a lot higher than the past, but would make it easier to ramp up my training for a race should the opportunity arise. I'm not sure if this will work but that's in my sights at the moment.

I hit Boot Camp today at lunch. It was tough and I'll be sore, but I'm excited to be back at it. I didn't push it with leg exercises as I can tell their still healing.

4 miles this morning. I both love and despise Boot Camp for how sore I feel afterwards. It's nothing like the DesNews marathon soreness, but it's pretty good. My upper forearms are sore from shoulder-touching curls, my upper butt muscle is sore from speed skaters plus one-legged toe touches with a medicine ball, etc, etc. Great workout.

Today I ran without a watch and I felt pretty good, much better than Monday. Not sure how my running will play out over the next few weeks as I transition to no future race, but my mindset is much better than after last year's September marathon where I didn't do much for a couple months. I'm ready to get back into it. I'm pondering starting up a new training cycle for a late fall/early winter 1 person marathon. It would be just for fun, a way to keep me on a training plan but without the expense or pressure of an upcoming race. We'll see.

6 miles this morning. Felt much better than Monday's run and I had to slow it down on the way back as my legs were naturally in the 7:20s and it's too soon to be running MP again. I backed off to 8 and continued home. Nice run.

AP: 8:14

Went to Grand Teton National Park Friday-Sunday for my wife's family reunion. On Saturday most of us drove to the Moose-Wilson road and the Laurence Rockefeller nature preserve so we could hike to Phelps Lake. I left while the others were waiting to park (limited parking on purpose - very stupid idea) and ran the trail. When I got to the lake I kept going around to the West and ran up, almost to the Death Canyon overlook. I turned around at 4 miles and headed back to the lake and found my wife and her family. I had intended to run the rest of the way and get 8 miles in, but decided to just walk with the family instead. Good idea.

The run was great. Beautiful scenery (although very rocky and rooty so I tended to keep my eyes focused down) and a great single track. Lots of grass, ferns, and weeds brushed against my legs so the compression sleeves were an added bonus. On a few downhills I practiced running fast, as that killed me in the Bighorns this year. I need to practice that more often, I just don't have too many trails in my fair city and the mountains are 1 hour away. Anyhow, really enjoyed this run. If I lived close to the mountains I would be a 100% trail runner.

After the hike we went to String Lake, a family favorite (my wife's family is from the Jackson Hole area so all of these places have 100+ years of history for her). While trying to use our 12V air compressor to blow up a floating mattress, I conceived a brilliant idea to use my keychain knife to cut the plastic inside the valve stem that was blocking the air from going in. It was a good idea, but the little knife doesn't have a locking blade. I ended up pushing too hard, the blade came back to it's resting position, and my thumb was in the way. I neatly sliced the left side of my right thumb and blood pumped nicely. I knew it needed stitches but didn't know where to get them. After stopping the blood with butterfly bandages and eating some lunch we got some calls to the Jackson Lake lodge and found a medical clinic that provided stitches. My wife drove me there and an hour and $672 later I had three stitches. She bought me an ice cream cone at the Colter Bay store because I was brave. I didn't even cry or scream out in pain once. My proudest moment of the day.

The thumb is healing nicely and I figured it was time to venture outdoors for a run. The thumb felt good and everything else. Happy to be out running and thinking and pondering.

AP: 8:32

Ran without a watch at lunch, but I think I did the 6 mile course which is a bit of a stretch for me lately. Felt pretty good. 80 degrees or so, I was dripping sweat, and it felt good.

Last night I stopped by my running store to find a new marathon shoe. Not a training shoe, just to run the event. 3 ounces has to make a difference, right? At least mentally, but there is some physiological advantage when taking 30-35,000 steps in a marathon. Anyhow, I think next time I do one I'll run in the Brooks Racer ST 5. I tried them on and they felt pretty good. I think it will be worth a shot.

Speaking of my next 26.2, I'm trying to talk my wife into the Santa Barbara race on November 9th. It's a Saturday, it's in California, at sea level, and a mostly flat race. I'd love to try a sea level race on the flat. And for the elites (2:30 male, 3:00 female) you'll likely get your race comped. I don't know if I'll win this battle as we're still trying to figure out how to pay our summer fun bills, but I won't know if I don't try, right?

Took my 10 year old son on a backpacking trip. I'm counting the miles because it was a solid uphill, and I had 30 pounds on my back. Beautiful trip, will try and include some pictures later.

Return backpacking trip. In the morning we hiked halfway up a mountain, up a rock slide. That was gorgeous to be up looking over the valley. I was proud of my son for coming with me and then for being adventurous and going even higher. It wasn't steep and dangerous, but was a tough climb. We picked wild raspberries all morning and even took some home for the family.

On the return trip he had his backpack on for 1 mile but was struggling to keep a good pace on a steady downhill, so I took his pack. It was only 11 pounds, so I wore it on my front and my pack on the back. I then cruised the rest of the way. He struggled to keep up but he did, without complaining. Averaged 18 minute miles I think. My legs were pretty sore after, so it was a good workout. Wish I could go backpacking much more. Hopefully next year as my 3 boys are all old enough now. My wife wants to go, so I see a family backpacking trip in our future.

Woke up a bit late so I only did 3 miles, but pushed the pace. Last mile was 7:07. Not incredibly fast, but feels really fast right now. Planning on Boot Camp at Noon.

6 miles. 9:07, 7:57, 8:06, 7:27, 7:10, 6:52.

I got to bed late last night and apparently I was tired as I had my alarm set for 6 but when I woke up at 7 the alarm was off. Not sure how that happened, but it felt good to get an extra hour sleep.

Went to Boot Camp at Noon and it was a sweatfest. Wrung the headband out 3 times, which is a good one. I'm still sore all over from Monday's session, so now I'll be sore the rest of the week from this one. Perfect.

6 miles this fine morning on my normal 6 mile route. 

AP: 8:02 

Planned on doing 6 this morning but when my alarm hit I decided to sleep in. Need to start going to bed before 11 but it's tough this time of year with our kids having football or soccer practices every night. So, I decided to hit Boot Camp at Noon instead of run.

8 miles at high intensity would've been easier than this session. Not sure if it's because I've hit BC three times this week and I'm tired or what it was, but this one really kicked my butt. After 45 minutes of working out even my shins were sweating, so that tells me something. My HR was up there. Never measured it, but a really good cardio and muscular workout.

Hoping I can squeeze in 10 miles tomorrow, but it's a really busy day.

4 miles in a warm South breeze this morning. Wanted to go 6 but my legs just didn't have it.

I missed out on a run on Saturday as it was just too busy. I really hope I can get on a long run this coming weekend.

Boot Camp at Noon. I'm still tired from doing 3 BC sessions last week, but I'm a glutton for punishment. Aren't we all?

Argh. Didn't wake up in time for a run before an 8 am meeting, then didn't get to the gym in time to be back for a 1 pm meeting, and busy busy in the evening so no run. Bah.

Had my alarm set for 5:30 to run before an early appointment, but that didn't happen. Bah.

Hit the gym at Noon for Boot Camp and halfway through one of the exercises tweaked my lower back, so I shut it down. It's not bad, but I knew I needed to quit before it got worse. We'll see how it feels tomorrow morning. Need some running to scratch this itch.

Lately morning and I have not been friends. I set my alarm at 5:30 to get up and do 6 before taking my oldest to the bus, but 5:15 rolled around and I felt tired so I turned off the alarm. Thankfully I was able to run at lunch time. Fairly warm, 83 degrees, but not horrible. I intended to run this a bit slow, maybe a 9 minute pace, and the first mile I obliged. I felt pretty rough the first 1/2 mile as I realize just how much fitness I've lost this past month of limited runs. After a mile I warmed up and the last 4 miles I kept a steady pace. It felt good and I was glad I could muster up a bit of decent speed for longer than a few miles.

AP: 8:06. Paces 9:01, 8:17, 7:59, 7:57, 7:47, 7:34.

Finally beat the alarm bug and woke up at 5:30 and got out the door shortly thereafter. Not soon enough to do 6, but I did 5.5 instead. Good run, legs felt good, much faster up the hills than normal.

AP: 8:11

Got out the door early enough for my first double digit run since DesNews. Wow. Went up my Veyo hill and never pushed the pace but felt very comfortable trucking along. AP 8:37 (I think)

Got home, went to a JV soccer game, then went camping to our favorite place on Earth, Woodbine campground.