Training in Montana

Garmin wouldn't stay on, so no idea on time. Ran a nice 1/2 mile as-fast-as-I-could and it felt good. Wish I knew how fast it was. Run felt good.

26 degrees; 14 with wind chill. It was tough psyching myself up to get out the door, but I did and I'm glad - it wasn't bad at all. Fleece is my friend when it's cold. I wore a short sleeve running shirt under my Turtle Fur fleece zip neck underlayer that I've had for years, plus a jacket that I took off 1/2 mile into the run. Wore my fleece hat, tights, and my running gloves inside my windproof mittens. Perfect running attire for this weather. Could do with some thicker running tights, but wasn't chilled. It was a beautiful cloudless morning thick with stars on the way out and a gorgeous pre-sunrise across the high plains during the return. Maybe treadmill running in a planetarium would be cool - otherwise, it's all about running outdoors.

AP: 8:22. Splits 10:11 (took off my jacket), 8:40, 8:29, 7:44, 7:28, 7:41.

Lunch - did 1 hour Boot Camp. Great workout, lots of sweat. Seeing great returns from the muscle workouts - none of the pains I was feeling at the end of the summer have come back since I started up BC again. Note to self that I need to keep up weight training even when marathon training. Speaking of, not sure which races I'll do next year - need to plan out the summer vacation schedule first.

I'm heading to Florida on Saturday so I skipped my run to spend some time with my wife. This was poor planning on my part - just got back 10 days ago from 4 days of elk hunting, now heading to a conference for 7 days. It's a learning conference I've been to before that's the best in the industry, so I'm excited about going and it's only once a year so the timing couldn't be avoided. Regardless, it will be awesome, not to mention the weather. 35 degrees in Billings, 80 degrees in Orlando. Looking forward to running at sea level in summer clothes again.

5 miles this morning. 36 degrees, only a slight breeze. Very nice running conditions and gorgeous starlit sky. I love O'Ryan's belt, but seeing it means Winter is near so that's a bit of a double edged sword. I saw a shooting star just past mile 2 - that was cool. Just a short blip, but still. I'll take what I can get.

AP: 8:24. Not sure of my splits as my watch is now at home.

10 chilly miles before the snow hit. It was another tough Saturday run for me & I walked quite a few times. Finally started feeling it after mile 5 & I ran all the way home. Snowy day after that, snowy football game. They played well but lost so now all 3 boys are done for the season. Bball starts Monday...

AP 8:37. Splits 9:09, 8:38, 9:17. 8:33, 9:02, 9:07, 8:33, 7:48, 8:09, 7:52.

5 Florida miles. Not so runner friendly where I'm staying, in a rental home. It's off a 60 MPH road so I stayed to the half mile of sidewalk then turned up a deserted street full of Recession Townhomes - all empty but look great on the outside. I hear someone yell at me from nowhere and it is a security guard who had been sitting in a car I didn't see. Says it's Private Property and I can't be there. Argh. I'm still ticked at him - a guy in a tanktop, shorts, listening to his iPod can't run through the perfectly developed road WITH a bike path? I told him if I got hit by a car it was his fault and went elsewhere. Thankfully found a true neighborhood across the highway and got in my miles. Man, it's humid here! No duh, but true. Felt great though and lots of oxygen. I wish I could find a 5K here. Billings was 18 degees just a few minutes ago. 72 and climbing in Orlando. Guilt. Okay, guilt gone.

AP: 8:49.

5 miles running on a dirt road and a 2" shoulder in the outskirts of Orlando. Part of it was running by an orange grove which was interesting. Who knew? Not ripe yet, but interesting how large some of the trees get. Felt pretty good. Amazing how much humidity there is - the car is covered in dew morning and night.

AP: 8:31

Universal Studios today so I woke up a bit late and did fewer miles. Just past one mile I saw loads of hot air balloons nearby - turns out they were landing in a field just near the run. It was fun to see them come in and land and deflate. I realized that riding in a hot air balloon is on my bucket list, as is skydiving, and riding in a helicopter. Deep sea fishing is probably in there as well. Marathon, check, now on to those other ones. But checking those off the list is soooo much easier than a marathon! I don't need to prep for months and months - just pay a large sum of money and go do it then check it off. I like that idea.

Universal was a blast. Harry Potter land was excellent and The Hulk roller coaster was awesome. We had a great time. Now I need to figure out a way to save up thousands of dollars and bring my family to Orlando for a full week of Disney, Universal, and the beach. Hopefully in a couple years. Only one more day of warmth, then it's back to Montana. It's been nice.

4 miles this morning. I had a bit of a layoff so expected my legs to be fresh but they were dead. I'm guessing it's a combination of a lot of walking at the conference, and at Universal Studios, plus surfing on Friday then a long flight back home, then cutting a load of wood and doing a little bit of deer hunting with the family on Saturday. And maybe a little sleep deprivation last week. Regardless, my legs were not fresh this morning. It was a chore to get 2 miles out, easier to get the 2 miles back. Will hit Boot Camp at Noon today.

AP: 8:40

Noon: Boot Camp. Lots of running, as we alternated 3 track laps (17 per mile) for each upper/lower body station. All in all, probably another mile of running but it was much faster than normal. Decent workout, but not great with all the cardio mixed in.

Boot Camp today, ran about 1 mile. Lots of upper body, my shoulders are wiped out. Might get out and run tomorrow.

4 miles this morning before the winds hit, and before the weekend cold front comes in. I plan on hitting the treadmill for a long run Saturday at the Y. I've only done that once and it was painful. I need to load a movie on my iPod to make the journey seem shorter.

AP: 8:29

Hit Target yesterday for some running clothes - who knew? Champion has really upped their outdoors gear and they have some tops and bottoms specifically for running. Pretty good stuff, $25 a pop, which I can handle. It worked pretty well this morning and was even a bit warm, but I'll take hot and sweaty over chilled any morning when it's 30 out. I hadn't done 6 in a while so I pushed myself to do it. Boot Camp has my legs feeling leaden but I know that ultimately it's going to help a lot. The storm hasn't hit yet - should hit this afternoon. I still might just brave the weather tomorrow for a long run.

AP: 8:37

I survived 10 TM miles and you know what? It wasn't even that bad. I did 3 miles at one near the back, far from the TVs and fans, then my favorite spot opened up. The TM would've turned off after 60 minutes anyhow, so this worked out perfectly. The FM transmitters worked so I was able to switch between military shows and football games. The lady next to me was hauling butt - walked in and started going at 8.0 mph and didn't stop. Did 4 miles at that speed. When she was done I asked her what she was training for, and she isn't, but turns out she's a 3:09 marathoner, 30-39 age group. Wow. I am always so impressed when you ladies not just beat us men but kick our tails! I said I'm planning on the Bighorn 50K next year, and she's done the 30K before and loves it. She then gave me ideas on trail runs to do both in town and an hour away in Red Lodge. Turns out that where I went backpacking this summer is her favorite spot for a 20 mile loop, and that confirmed my suspicion that it would be an amazing run. I am definitely doing it next year.

I have no idea how long it took me or what my average pace was. I kept at at least a 1.0 incline, and mainly ran at 6.9, then a while at 7.5, then bumped it to 8.0 the last 3 miles with the last mile at a 9.2/6:30 pace. I was barely breathing hard, though, so I know it's not a true 6:30 as I can barely breathe on the road at 6:30 on the flat.

Not feeling well yesterday or today. Just a cold. Will hopefully get better for the 9 hour drive on Wednesday to Utah for family time, and some nice runs Thursday, Friday, and Saturday in Cache Valley.

Finally felt like running after 3 days off with a cold. Had a nice 8 hour drive yesterday, arrived at 2 PM, had a nice nap then got some good sleep as well. Feel much better now. I had planned on running the inaugural Turkey Trot (Run Turkey Run) in Billings today but my wife decided we needed to be with her family so off we went. I believe they had over 1000 runners and I can't wait to do it next year.

Staying in North Smithfield so took my SIL's advice and ran up 4th North and into Smithfield canyon. Gorgeous run. Hopefully I'll be able to do a long run up there on Saturday. I felt pretty good on the run. Used the inhaler a couple times before and no coughing during the run. Plenty afterwards, but not during. 28 degrees with sun out is much different than 28 degrees in the morning with no sun. I wore warmer pants and a warm top plus a tech shirt and on the way back I was just running in short sleeves with no gloves or hat. Very hot and sweaty. Burned off 800 calories - bring on the food!

AP: 9:02

6.5 miles through Smithfield, up to the bench, down near the golf course, and back to my in law's home. Gorgeous morning for a run, and I beat the rain and clouds. Only meant to do 5 but I saw that hill, and I saw someone in a red top going up the hill so of course I had to reel them in, so mileage no longer mattered. I finally caught her just after the top of the hill (and gave her a bit of a scare - guess her headphones were a bit loud) then got to stretch my legs a bit on a slight downhill. I think I followed part of the Turkey Trot 10K course as the paint looked fresh. If that was the course, that's a tough one.

I think my AP was 8:22 or so - I don't recall. I ate way too much at Thanksgiving yesterday and my stomach was out of wack the rest of the day. No pie yet, and downed some Alka Seltzer so I could go to bed. It might have been some headache medicine my FIL gave me just before dinner. I'd never had it before and maybe that did the trick? Off brand with acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine. Maybe I don't like aspirin? Regardless, feeling better today and ready for a turkey sandwich.

Had a great run this morning up Smithfield Canyon. It was nice running in the shoes of the great Paul. Seems like he runs this route regularly, and I can see why. It was gorgeous. A bit nippy out, I think 18 or so but it felt much warmer. My belly was cold most of the run and the legs a bit chilly but other than that I felt great. I don't know how much elevation gain there is to the point I turned around but must have been healthy as I kept it in the low 7s most of the way down. Felt pretty good. Afterwards went to the USU-Nevada football game with the family and it was awesome! Great game and we got a few breaks and came away with the win. First winning season since I was an undergrad and had no kids. Go Aggies! Now driving home to Billings in the morning - had a nice Thanksgiving weekend in Cache Valley.

AP: 9:03

No miles today but got a nice workout at Boot Camp. The headband was soaked afterwards, so it was a good one. Lots of running, some weights, some core, some pushups. A little bit of it all.

6 tough miles this morning. Boot Camp yesterday worked a lot of leg and butt muscles and I sure felt it today. Gorgeous morning, not too cold.

AP: 8:26

Boot camp. It were a tough one today boys and girls. Some new girl decided to raise her hand and she designed all the workouts. Lots of stability ball things (hate them) and other sorts of craziness. Not as sore as the Monday one, but still lots of lower body stuff. Will probably be sore tomorrow. Good workout, but the girl is nuts.