Training in Montana

Mixture of boot camp + 25 minutes on the indoor track at a New Years Day thing at the Y.

Boot Camp. Good workout.

Boot Camp - led by Joe. Brutal.

30 minutes on the indoor track at the Y. Not sure of mileage as I'm not going to count 17 times per mile. Ran hard the last 2 minutes, finished the last lap in 25 seconds or so. Kept heartrate 153-158 most of the run.

Nice run to Riverfront park entrance and back. 600 feet elevation drop then a hill back. Runoff waters on roadside made for a muddy run from the water drip, but didn't realize until 1/2 way through. 35 degrees, beautiful day.

Boot Camp @ YMCA. Rough one today.

Boot camp @ Y. Lots of cardio. HR up to 183! Wow - didn't realize until I looked just now. After going to this class a couple times a week for a few months it's making a big difference with everything. I like the changes.

Treadmill miles. Most of it run at 7.0 with 2.0 incline. Ran last 3 minutes at 10.0 with 0 incline. HR was way up at end of 3 minutes. 30 minutes running, 5 minutes cool down.

Boot camp 60 minutes

Decided today to run the Red Mountain 30K near St. George on April 23rd. Found a 14 week 30K training plan and thankfully this week is 14 weeks to race day.

Ran 4.7 miles in 40 minutes on the treadmill.

40 minutes of boot camp, then 15 minutes of running on the indoor track, for my approximately 1.8 miles I needed today.

5 treadmill miles with 5 minute cool down. 1 minute bicycles, 15 left/right side plank touches, 20 pushups, 30 seconds plank (I was tired).

Due to 45 mph winds I ran treadmill at the Y this morning. 6.2 running, 5 minute cool down. Started at 6.5, then moved up to 7.3 for most of it. Put on 8.0 with 1 mile to go, and bumped to 12.0 for the last .2 miles. Felt good, but I really miss being outside. It's been a few weeks. Hopefully this week I'll make it outside for a few runs.

Ran outdoors. Loved it! A bit icy in spots where the sun hadn't warmed the sidewalk, but no slips and was a good run. Looking forward to mostly outdoor runs the rest of the winter even if it's nasty out as I'm tired of the treadmill.

Nice outdoor run, 1.5 mile up a hill, then back down. 1 minute bicycles, 1 minute plank, 25 pushups. Good short workout.

1 treadmill mile before Boot Camp. Class was all legs & cardio today - felt good but lots of sweat.

My "5 mile" YMCA route. Most sidewalks are clear but plenty of water around. Great run, pushed myself and kept HR mostly above 160. Hopefully some year I can actually run fast when my HR is 160. I've only been running a little over a year so I'm hoping that next year or so my time can improve. For now I just love to run, especially outdoors. Finished up with 75 seconds bicycles, 70 seconds plank, and 20 pushups.

Did about 7.5 miles while at the Klondike Derby. Ran on ice, snow, and mud which constantly alternated between the three. A beautiful country road out by Cooney Dam. Rousted a large nye of hen pheasants right next to the road, and got the glaring eye from a new mama cow as she hid her calf from this roving predator. Got back to the Derby at lunch time so got plenty of sideways glances and a few comments about my "nice spandex." They were just jealous. Great conditions for a run - high 30s or so with some sun and a slight breeeze.

Decided not to brave the -5 temps so ran on the treadmill an average of 7.0 mph. Felt pretty sluggish after my Saturday run - didn't realize how tough that run was with all it's ups and downs. My left foot has a bump on the arch just before the heel. Doesn't hurt during a run but is pretty sore afterwards. I thought it was just a bruise but now I'm not so sure. Will be icing and stretching a lot more. Doesn't sound like plantar fasciatis but hopefully soaking my foot in ice water daily and rolling it etc. will help.

Sick and in bed all week long! Felt really sluggish with my run on Monday, and later that afternoon I figured out why. Got hit with the flu bug so had body aches, fever, chills, and general malaise. I've now got a congested chest and still tire easily so getting back into running is going to take a while. Yuck! And I was feeling so invincible...

Finally got back to running after being sick for a week. Still have lots of rattle in my chest but it felt good to run. Did slow running/walking on the indoor track, then picked it up to a nice jog and sprinted 1 lap (100 yds). Back to walking and slow running, then picked it up for 10 minutes or so and ended with 1 more sprinted lap. Chest felt better after running - counter intuitive to what I expected.

Also played some church basketball last night and felt good. Can run the floor much better than I could the past 5 years. Amazing what consistent exercise can do for a person....

Ran on the treadmill at the Y, longest distance since being sick. Definitely feeling effects of being sick/laying off running. Wasn't sure I could keep going - felt a bit light headed, a bit out of sorts, but kept the speed at a modest 6.3 and felt better after a mile or so. Left it at 6.3 for 3.1 miles, then boosted to a 7.0 until 4.3 then hit the cool down button. Felt good, very little coughing (although I'm sure it was too much for my gym mates). I know I'm not contagious, just getting rid of residual lung goo.... :)

TM at the Y. Took the Scouts to Stake Merit Badge Day then left them for a while and went to my son's basketball game then hit the Y. I'm still not 100% better so planned on only running 3 miles but was feeling pretty good, so thought I'd do 4, then 5, then ended up doing 6. Figured I might as well get in a 10K as it is my long run Saturday. Should've gotten in 8.7 today but I'm happy I was able to do what I did. Sure hope I can shake this crud.

Not sure of exact distance but the treadmills were full, so ran on the indoor track where 17 times around = 1 mile. I ran for 30 minutes and kept a pretty steady pace. HR was avg about 155 but got into the 160s so I know I was running decently fast for me. The chest is still tight and burns when the HR is up so I'm looking forward to this gunk leaving me soon. Glad I was able to get in a run - did a Valentine's Day lunch with my wife so missed on my normal Noon run, but left work early and got in a rare after work run.

Beautiful run outside in the high 50s with a little wind. Up a hill and back down, run felt great, but it was a push to keep up the tempo - lungs very tight & burning with HR in the high 150s to the 160s.

After stretching did 1:00 bicycles, 1:05 plank, and 15 L/R side plank elbow touches.

Ran about a mile at Boot Camp today, which was nice. Did lots of cardio and then a bit of legs, a bit of arms. Good workout but not too overdone. I'd missed it for 3 weeks. I love going to it as I feel so alive afterwards, even if that means my muscles are so sore I can't move. At least I know I'm alive!

Had a great run outdoors today! We've had lots of melting the past week with temps in the 50s and today's temps in the 30s was perfect. Mostly clear sidewalks, only a couple icy spots, and I was able to run a good solid 8 minute or so pace. Looking forward to bonus time as I plan to finally buy me a Garmin GPS watch. I'd like to know my splits and HR during certain speeds and soon I will. I was waiting to buy one to see if my new hobby will stick. After 15 months of running I think I might be hooked.

1 minute bicycles, 1 minute plank, 15 L/R side plank elbow touches. Sore abs from Boot Camp yesterday. Need to increase my plank time but that is one tough thing to do.

Ran my favorite 10 mile loop today. 3 degrees, 7 mph breeze, overcast, and perfect roads. It was actually a really nice run. Looked a bit silly with my camo balaclava for most of the run but it did the trick of keeping the freeze off my chin and nose. The camo mittens looked awesome too. I was worried about my layering but it ended up perfect. On bottom wore a pair of wicking thermals as a base, blue tights over that and finished with basketball warmups. Legs and butt were warm enough during the run. On top had a running shirt, then a fleece zip up, then a wicking zip up, topped with a running jacket I picked up on clearance at Old Navy. On the head wore my awesome hankie headband with a fleece cap topped with the awesome balaclava. Run took 94 minutes HR avg 150 max 173 elevation 600 feet or so. Started with 1 mile of dirt road (from my house), 4 miles of road (elevation drop), 3 1/2 gravel road (all the elevation gain), 1/2 mile of road back to my 1 mile of dirt to home. My new Vasque trail run shoes are doing well. Need to get a new pair of road shoes but waiting for tax return to buy them. Mine aren't dead yet. Overall, I was surprised when I got home that it was only 4 degrees. I was soaked with sweat so figured it had warmed up. Turned out my layering strategy worked.

Running uphill on snowy sidewalks is a bit like running on a sandy beach, but it was nice being outside. It was 15 degrees out with windchills of 0 so I layered up well, and probably could have done without a layer. Ran my normal 4 mile out and back and oddly I didn't see anyone out running today. Wimps.

AP 8:49, avg HR 156, max 171. Much slower than I thought I was going, so the snow must've affected me. Or I'm just slow (think it's the latter).

Ran outside again today. Nice day, 30 or so, but a bit messy with snow melting and cars splashing me. Enjoyed being outside. 1 minute bicycles, 1 minute plank, 25 pushups.

Played 1 hour of basketball at night. Instead of 3 showers for the day I let the sweat dry and slept great. It was a 9 PM game then had to stop at Wally-World to buy some spray paint for this week's pinewood derby. Was amped up for the night so got to bed late. The pinewood derby and me - we're not friends. I hate it on an annual basis. Only 4 more years to go! I can't wait.

Ran 0.8 miles on the TM before Boot Camp, then we did a ton of running. It was a great sweaty workout. You know you're sweating good when your bandana headband is dripping sweat from it's tails. Pretty decent abs work and a few other muscle groups but mainly it was cardio.

4 TM miles due to -20 wind chills outside. Got a great workout. Did the hills program for the first time and it is a killer! Only ran at a 6 MPH pace for most of it but the incline baselined at a 1.5 and topped out at 7.8 for 1 minute intervals. Last 5 minutes went to 0 incline and 7.5 MPH pace, then bumped to 8.3 for 1 minute, and last minute on 10.0, then 5 minutes cool down. I think I'll start doing more programs like hills or intervals when I have to run the TM although that should be ending shortly with the advent of Spring... possibly.

Avg HR 156, max 179 (yikes!)

1:15 bicycles, 1:00 plank, 30 pushups.

I need to start doing something on Fridays as I take a complete rest day so I can go out to lunch, which I'm doing today.

However, I did 30 pushups at home last night, and 30 pushups this morning while the shower was getting hot (we have an instant hot water heater and it takes a while). 30 is definitely my max right now, but just a few months ago it was 15. I'd love to get up to 60 eventually, but that seems like Mt. Everest at the moment.

11.2 TM miles due to waking up to -8 F this morning + wind chill. That's the longest distance I've ever done on a treadmill and it was rough. Didn't get a TM near a fan or up front near the TVs so had to suffer through monotony listening to a local sports show, which is pretty pathetic. I much prefer national sports talk. Ran most of it at 6.5 MPH, started with a 2 incline but that was a bit much for my typical long runs, so bumped it down to .5 then to 0 for the last 9 or so. After 5 or so I bumped up the speed to 6.8, then at mile 9 bumped up to 7.5 MPH for 1 mile and finished the last mile at 8.5 MPH. HR monitor freaked out on me- think the watch needs a new battery - so not sure of avg or max HR but it was in the 170s on that last mile. Didn't use body glide as I didn't realize how much I'd sweat. I was soaked and the nipples are a bit raw. Won't make that mistake again. Overall, good workout. Hopefully won't have to do that again as the below zeros should be well gone now.

Did 1 minute bicycles, 1:15 plank, 15 pushups.

Ran my regular "4" mile route. 39 degrees with 20 mph gusts. Sidewalks mostly clear. Run felt good. AP 8:26, avg HR 150, max 165.

1:30 bicycles, 1:00 plank, 15 pushups.

3.7 Tempo miles on the TM due to me being a wimp. Weather changed back to cold and I wimped out on 5 degree temps with -10 wind chill. I should've run outside. Took me a while to find an open TM at the YMCA so ran a few warm up laps on the indoor track (17 laps per mile - yuck). Finally a TM opened up so I took it and ran a couple minutes, then a better one opened, so moved to that. Stayed on a 7.5 speed and started at 0 incline but after 7-8 minutes I bumped it to a 1.0 incline for the remainder. Moved to an 8.0 speed for the last mile, then 9.0 for the last 0.2 miles.

1:00 bicycles, 1:40 plank, 30 pushups

Ran 1.8 on the TM before a brutal hour-long cardio workout at Boot Camp. Consisted of leg lifts on a step, running with weights on shoulders, hopping over scaffolded taller steps, running 4 laps, squat pushups, squat shuffles down the court, hopping forward with the resistance band held by my partner, then a few minutes of crunches. Headband was soaked after this workout.

Did 5 "pickup" miles today. It's a new term for me, but I did my best based on the info my 30K training plan gave me. Ran a nice pace for about 2 miles, then ran hard for 100-200 Meters at a time, then walked and jogged until my HR dropped, then ran hard again. I don't have a GPS watch (yet - just ordered a Garmin 305 from Amazon) so I just ran from 1 sign on the road to another sign, but I think the distance was about right. Not sure how many pickups I did but I'd guess it was 4 or 5. Overall, a good workout. My right calf muscle has been sore lately - looking at an anatomy chart, looks like it's my inside soleus muscle. I need to find a good stretch for it. AP: 8:18, Avg HR: 153, Max HR: 176. 1 minute bicycles, 15 pushups.

Oh yeah - finally got my new shoes today. Brooks Adrenaline with "DNA". Ah - had forgotten what new shoes felt like. Nice cushioning. I think Brooks are my fav - had been using Asics just because they didn't have my size in stock last time I needed shoes, but I like Brooks a bit better.

Enjoyed Pad Thai at Taste of Asia with my buddy Blake. Yum. Nice 13 mile run tomorrow, should be outside hopefully.

Added an extra 1/2 mile to my run because I forgot my sunglasses when I left the house and ran back to get them. It was a foggy day but glad I had my glasses - keeps out the fog glare and the wind from my contacts. I normally like to roll out of bed on Saturday morning and do my long run, but my wife had something going on so instead I made french toast for the kids and started my run at 9:30 when she got back. Started out the run at 23 degrees and ended near 30 so my frozen mud road was not so frozen when I returned. I did my favorite 10 mile loop but added 3 miles onto it at the bottom of the hill - ran to the frontage road and back to get my extra mileage. A couple miles into the run I realized that I was doing a half marathon, which I've never offically run, so I pushed it a bit more than I would have to try and break 2 hours, just to see if I could. Adjusting my time for the extra .4 miles, I would have squeaked in just under 2 hours at 1:58:39, which is fantastic for me especially considering that miles 8-12 go up 600 feet elevation on a loose gravel road with some steep inclines that always leave me gasping for air.

This is the furthest I've run since the marathon in July and it felt really good. Right calf was really sore most of the day but is feeling better now. I'll soak it in ice water tonight then roll it. Overall, feeling really good about doing 29 miles this week - the most I've done since the marathon. I'd like to bump it to 40 miles per week over the next few months then hold it steady. We'll see how it goes.

AP 9:03, Avg HR 148, Max HR 167.

Had a nice slow & easy run outside in 15 degrees with no wind and only a skiff of snow in some places. Ended with some squats to strengthen the adductors, 1:00 bicycles, 1:00 plank.

AP:8:44. Avg HR: 147, Max HR: 164.

Nice easy run today. AP approx 8:20. Left my HR monitor at home and my watch doesn't record anything without the monitor.

So excited though! Just now got my Garmin 305 in the mail. It's charging now - can't wait to use it on my next run. I've been looking forward to a GPS watch for a long time, plus a watch with any sort of features like a stop watch, lap timer, etc. My current watch is just a HR monitor and a timer.

Boot Camp today. A great cardio workout plus hit lots of muscle groups - squats, shoulders, bench press, triceps.

Still trying to figure out why my inner soleus muscles on both legs are so sore. It's only been happening for the past few weeks and I don't know what would be causing it. It started with old shoes but is still going on with new shoes. My right calf muscle is sore also after long runs. It's not debilitating but is concerning. Hoping it will go away, but might need to hit a PT shop.

5.13 of "mid-pace" miles. Not sure what that means, but I don't think I hit that. Did my typical 5 mile loop and about 2.5 miles two other runners came from a different direction and we ran side by side for a few seconds. They ended up going ahead of me by 20 feet and that motivated me to run a bit faster than I normally would have. Really enjoyed my new Garmin watch and see my pace continually evolve. When I got to the high school track I realized I would be short of 5 miles so I did 2 laps on the track then headed in.

Cooled down, stretched, 1:15 bicycle, 1:15 plank, 20 pushups. AP 8:19; Avg HR 151; Max HR 167

Inner soleus is sore to the touch on both legs when I press on the bone a couple inches above my ankle bone. It's been like this for a while. Will probably skip my Saturday long run of 15.5 to see if a long weekend of ibuprofen, icing, heat, etc. will help things.

Fridays is always my day off from running but I normally do nothing on Fridays. I think that might change. I had a great workout today - feel great. Got warm with 10 minutes on the bike while watching Conference tournaments on ESPN - great games. Then did my traditional PT exercises - 3X12 squats & 3X8 shoulders with 12 lb dumbells, did 3X12 curls with 20 lb dumbells, and 3X20 tricep extensions with 15 lbs. Added in some 3X15 tricep dips, 3X8 bench press with 30 lb dumbells. Did 40 short-step lunges to isolate the quadriceps using 15 lb dumbells. Got in a nice ab workout - 3X20 toe touches with an 8 lb ball, 3X15 situps, then 3X20 side to side with an 8 lb ball. Ended with 1:30 bicycle, 1:00 plank, and 10 pushups. Tried to do longer plank and more pushups but the other upper body zapped me.

Tomorrow morning I'm heading to a Jeff Galloway seminar. He's in town and I get to spend 3 hours with him and 23 others who've paid for the privilege. I've never read his books but very aware of him and looking forward to learning what he has to say.

Jeff Galloway was in town this weekend and I attended his seminar Saturday morning. I ran 7.67 before the seminar, then ran 3 with Jeff and a group of other people. For the 3 we ran 30 seconds on, then walked 30 seconds. It was really weird.

The seminar was great - he is a very knowledgeable guy. I haven't read any of his books but I plan on it as his methods are worth a shot. It makes sense and he's got lots of data to back it up so it's worth trying to see if I can run injury free. I'm not ready to make the plunge just yet. He did give me some advice on my current injuries and says my inner calf muscle isn't a muscle - it's shin splints and they frequently happen where I'm having the pain. He thinks I've upped my mileage too quickly and/or running too fast, both which could apply to me. The foot thing he says not to worry about as it doesn't hurt when I run and seems to be getting better.

By the way, hitting it hard with ibuprofen made the shin splints feel much better. I don't know much about shin splints but understand they're tough to get over. As these aren't killing me I'm going to keep moving and hope they go away. If they don't get better I'll figure out this wasn't a great strategy.

AP for the 7.6 miles = 8:45; AHR 147; MHR 159

AP for the 3 miles = 12:17; AHR 119; MHR 137

3.1 miles from the Y. Nice cloudy day out, 58 degrees with some wind. Chilly on the hands without the sun but felt great. Did some PT exercises afterwards plus some curls.

AP 8:25; AHR 148; MHR 159

5 miles today, warmed up with about .4 before taking off. Tried the Galloway method using a 4:1 ratio of running to walking. Interesting approach.

AP 8:22; splits 8:24, 8:09, 8:39, 8:09, 8:28.  AHR: 152; MHR 174.

I was shooting for an 8:30 AP and I guess I hit that OK, although with the walking slowing me down my running bits were in the 7:30s quite often, and my Max HR was up there for one stretch. There were a couple guys running about a 7:45 pace who passed me during my first walk break then I was motivated to catch them so ran faster than I normally would have. I'll have to read more of Galloway's stuff as I want to do things the way he recommends, and I know he's got some specific ideas regarding speed work, mid week runs, and long runs. Beautiful day outside. Ran in shorts & a t-shirt with gloves as my hands stay cold until 1/2 way through my run on a day like this in the high 40s. By the way, I love my Garmin and knowing my true pace all the time.

Ended with 1:00 bicycles, 1:30 plank, and 3X15 pushups. Did 30 pushups this morning waiting for the shower to get hot (my new standard routine - nice way to wake up).

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/73245700

Boot Camp today. I love that class and miss doing it more but I need to focus on running and the class wears me out. Did lots of cardio, some shoulders, some squats, but mainly cardio with stairs and track work. I find that only doing the class once a week energizes me where doing it 3 times a week wears me out.

Had a nice "easy" 6.2 mile run. Was supposed to go easy but I had a meeting to make so I pushed it a bit after getting going. The first 3 miles were into a pretty stiff wind, gusts 29 mph, and my HR for my speed shows it. Slight uphill with gusty headwinds. Love it. The turnaround point meant it was mainly downhill with a tailwind so I picked it up. Hit a 7:34 mile which is my fastest mile in a run. Did I mention I love my Garmin?

AP: 8:28, splits 9:36, 8:59, 8:54, 8:20, 8:05, 7:34, 6:44 (.2). Avg HR 147; Max HR: 167.
30 pushups this morning before my shower.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/73551419

AP 9:28 9:27, 8:21, 8:51, 8:32, 9:09, 9:44, 10:03, 9:49, 9:32, 10:37, 10:21, 9:26, 8:49. Avg HR 139, Max HR 156.

Took the day off for my wife's birthday and went cross-country skiing. It was fantastic. Went a few miles up a canyon then headed back in order to pick up the kids from school. Total was about 6 miles but I didn't really break a sweat as we were going nice and slow. I wish we lived closer to the mountains but glad we're as close as we are.

Treadmill hill miles. Used the Hills program and it was a good workout, with a base incline of 5.5 going up to a max of 11.1. Started at 5.3 speed, and after 5 minutes moved up to a 6.0 for the rest of the time. Feeling tired today, probably from the cross country skiing yesterday using different muscles. I had a great nap Sunday but erased the benefits by staying up too late and starting my week sleep deprived. It's a constant cycle. Looking forward to my 30K in 5 weeks.

Boot Camp today. Good workout, but left me a bit tired. Working out in a gym is way too hot for me - I enjoy the colder air of a morning run, even if it's below freezing. Others said it was a tough workout but it's got me wondering if I'll stop doing boot camp once a week and just run. I love the camaraderie and learning new ways to work my muscles but maybe I need to slow down a bit? Odd - haven't felt this way in a workout for a while. Even got a really good night's sleep as I was really tired yesterday. Maybe I need to go to bed at 10:30 instead of after 11. I know I should, but...

Man, I am tired this week. Was supposed to do pickups today but just knew I didn't have it in me, and I have a Scout winter campout and cross-country skiing tomorrow, so needed to take it easy.

AP 9:02; Splits 9:11, 9:02, 8:59, 9:08. Avg HR 137; Max HR 148.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/74864735

Boy Scout campout screwed up my mileage this week, but it was fun. Friday we drove up past Red Lodge and parked at the road closed sign on Lake Fork trail. We unloaded our backpacks and loaded the Klondike sled with sleeping bags & cross country skiis, etc. and headed up the snowy road to our campsite. It was 1.35 miles away with a total of 400 feet elevation. It was really hard and took us over an hour. 3 ropes up front pulled the sled and two from behind pushed and it was brutal. Great upper thigh workout. Set up camp on some snow and had a horrible night's sleep as I melted all the snow beneath me all night long. Saturday morning we had breakfast and headed off up the trail teaching the boys how to cross country ski. All but one figured it out quickly so I stayed behind the slow one while the others went ahead. Ended up not getting much of a workout as it took us 2 hours to go 0.75 miles, then turned around and went back. Broke camp and headed back. Downhill was a breeze! Got home and planned to go for a run but we had some friends coming over in an hour and my wife wasn't keen on me leaving again. So, missed my 15.5 miles but definitely got a decent workout this weekend.

Nice 4.2 miles outside. Sprinkled a teeny bit but only got a few drops on the sunglasses. Overall felt good, not having run for a few days. The GPS took a while to get going and it recorded a few whacky things, like a 4:30 minute mile, so I won't put my paces up there.

Wondering what to do about my 15.5 mile run I missed on Saturday. Do I do that this Saturday or just not worry about it? I missed my other 15.5 mile run, the longest runs on my schedule, because of some conflicts a few weeks ago. I'll probably try and do the longer run on Saturday but go slowly.

Planks 2X1:00; side planks 1X1:00.

4 mile pickups this morning. 30 degrees with no wind, nice morning for a run. Got some good sprints in, and am amazed at people who can run in the 4's for a whole mile.

AP 8:54. Splits 9:37, 8:37, 8:31, 8:47. Avg HR 142; Max HR 171.

Weights adductors, shoulders, curls.

Nice and easy 2 mile run. AP: 9:26

Did some PT weights to keep my adductors (3X12X12lbs) and shoulders (3X8X12lbs) happy, and added in curls (3X10X25lbs). Core: planks 1X1:00, 1X0:30; side planks 2X1:00; bicycles 1X1:05, 20 pushups.

Slow 4 mile run, AP 9:36. I think I've been running too fast, which caused my shin splints. They aren't horrible shin splints but enough to get me to do things differently. I think I increased my mileage and pace too quickly. I'll slow things down, increase the mileage, then once I'm used to 30 miles per week I'll slowly increase the pace.

While watching TV with my wife last night, did my longest plank ever - 2:00. I then did 1:00 side planks, then 1:00 bicycles, repeated with a 1:00 plank and 1:00 side planks, and ended with 30 pushups. I need to do that more! Felt great and good use of TV time.

Off day. 20 pushups while waiting for the shower to warm up. Walked from the basement to the 10th floor in my office building just now to get the tired bugs out. Need to do that more now that I'm off caffeine.

Nice run today, perfect temps (38 to 44). Ran from home to the Y then did a 7 mile loop. Felt pretty good. Tried gummy bears for my nutrition and worked OK. Stomach a teeny bit upset, more than gels and jelly beans but our Wal-Mart no longer sells gels or jelly beans and I don't want to spend a bunch on them. Will have to find them online.

AP 9:34. Splits 9:55, 9:09, 9:16, 8:51, 9:35, 9:47, 9:54, 9:53, 9:37, 9:38, 9:34, 9:26, 9:35, 9:26, 9:17 (last .5). Avg HR 141; Max HR 157.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/76712852

Nice & easy 2.9 miles today. A bit windy but nice enough for shorts, which is awesome. I need some new black tights - my royal blue 10 yr old tights are ugly as crap but I can't see spending $ when what I have works fine. But I'm sure my kids wouldn't claim me if I wore them with them around. AP 9:30, Avg HR 145, Max HR 164, Elevation up 335, down 365.

1:30 plank, 1:00 side planks, 1:00 bicycles, 15 pushups (+ 20 this morning). Squats, shoulder raises, and curls also.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/77262019

4 mile tempo run. I wanted to keep an 8:30 average to see if I can hold that in my upcoming 18.6 mile race. I'm doubtful, but I'll try. It's easy for me to keep a 9:30 pace on my long runs, so knocking a minute off that easy pace might be possible.

The high school track is on my typical route so I headed inside after a brief warmup to see if I could train my legs what an 8:30 pace was. I'm glad I have a GPS watch for that as it was tough to keep it to 8:30. I'd either go faster or slower, but it worked out. Ran 1 mile on the track, then headed back to the roads for a bit. The watch says I only gained 94 feet but it looked like a lot! Glad my race is mostly all downhill. Up the hill I kept it mostly at 8:30ish but after turning around it picked up to a 7:30 or so mile. I can't sustain that for long but feels good to run "fast", which in the 7's is fast for me.

AP: 8:22, Avg HR 155.

2.75 easy miles today. Squats, shoulders, curls X 3. 2:00 plank, 1:00 side planks, 1:00 bicycles, 20 pushups.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/77607048

4.55 mile tempo run with a .4 warmup first. Tried to make my average pace 8:30 but I'm having a hard time doing that. Ended up faster than that. I tried to do my uphill part at 8:45 then planned 8:15 for the downhill. I think my uphill was a bit shorter than down as I made it quicker than planned. 36 degrees out with a light drizzle that faded.

AP 8:13, Avg HR 154, Max HR 171.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/77778763

5.3 by myself this morning, AP 8:44, then hurried home and the whole crew (minus oldest sleeping over son) went to a 5K run/walk. We started with the walkers 30 minutes early and walked the first bit then my wife and 5 year old daughter stayed behind while I gently jogged with the 9 and 7 year old boys. We ran most of the rest of the way, taking 30 second walk breaks only a few times. AP 13:03, total 5K time 40:19. And the best part is the boys had a blast and thought running was fun! Wahoo - I hope my kids like to run and start to join me on my shorter runs. I have to figure that one out. How do you all get your kids involved in your runs? Have them meet you somewhere on your run for a little bit? Run with them afterwards? Haven't done much to figure that out but I'd love to make it a family affair.

3.8 mile run, supposed to be easy, but it felt really good in after a mile or so and I realized I was running in the mid 7s and my HR was about 155. Beautiful outside - 63 F - and a bit of a wind so running without winter clothes must have sped me up. Plus didn't run super long Saturday so the legs were very fresh. The last 0.3 miles or so I let it go to see how long I could sustain a kick. I kept it under a 6 minute mile for the last 90 seconds or so, definitely at the top end of my range.

AP 8:05, splits 9:14, 8:14, 7:48, 6:48 (0.79 miles).

Did weights afterwards. 3X12 lunges (12lb bells), 3X8 shoulders (12lb), 3X10 curls (25lb). 1:00 bicycles, 1:00 plank, 25 pushups.

5 fartlek miles, 1/2 warmup, cool down. Never done fartlek before and I have to say, I think I like it! I also love my GPS watch, although it takes forever to find satellites when I walk out of the YMCA to run. Must be the satellites from the TV station next door or something. Anyhow, I did a little warmup, finally got the GPS working, and headed out. My first up tempo run was up a small hill at the park. Not bad. Then jogged a bit, then ran faster than normal up an incline, from one street to the next. Walked and cooled down then jogged, and ran fast to a mailbox in the distance. Felt really good. Jogged for quite a ways, then ran fast from 17th St. to 13th St., about 3 minutes, and kept my pace in the 6's. I then jogged a ways more and did my last fast run from the golf course entrance to the stop lights. Coasted back to the park, then walked most of the 0.5 back to the Y. http://connect.garmin.com/activity/78844293

1:00 plank, 30 pushups (plus 30 this morning).

Easy run today, just ran from my house to the main road and back before work this morning.

AP 9:00 or so. Taper to my April 23rd 30K in St. George. Dreading the 14 hour drive...

4.38 mile tempo run plus warmup/cool down. Gusts of 35 MPH, thankfully not straight on, but angling head on. Felt good. Tried to keep at an 8:30 and did okay going up hill and into the wind but sped up too much with no wind and slight downhill. Need to keep working on that. Ended with 1/2 mile on the track to get in my miles.

AP 8:10; splits 8:28, 8:15, 8:09, 7:48, 8:15 (0.38). Avg HR 154, Max HR 166.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/79200635

The plan had me running 6.2 but I stayed up late Friday night and couldn't wake up early Saturday. Had to forego the run to build a chicken coop. Got it mostly done before guests arrived at 6 PM. I am slower at building stuff than I am running, and that's saying something.

Nice easy run today. Cool outside with snow in the forecast, but felt good, and the cold kept most people inside the gym so it was peaceful. AP 9:48, Avg HR 140.

Treadmill miles. Snowing today (happy birthday to me) and didn't want to get wet through the puddles so ran inside for the first time in a while. Warmed up for .35 or so then did my 3.7 tempo run. Stayed at 7.1 mph with a 2 incline. Didn't wear HR monitor so don't know, but I got warm and wished I was wearing a sleeveless shirt even though they look stupid. I was too hot and no fans nearby so did the dorky thing and hiked up my shorts sleeves to uncover my shoulders. I ran much cooler even though I looked like a wannabe sleeveless shirt guy. Oh well. When I was nearly done my wife texted to say she was on her way to pick me up, so I hurried and finished & showered and she took me to Jimmy Johns for my birthday. Yum. Hadn't been there before, new one opened downtown, and their bread rocks. Great sandwich & pickle, but could do without the friendliness. Creepy when you walk in and everyone behind the counter says hi. Creepy! After work will pack the car then head out tomorrow at 4 AM for the 14 hour 15 minute drive to St. George. Red Mountain 30K - here I come!

Short slow run to keep the legs warm. Ran on the St. George river trail - gorgeous. I would love to have a trail like that at home. Looking forward to hanging out in St. George then the run Saturday morning.

My first race report so bear with me. I'm kind of all over the place & a bit long winded.

The goal: I was hoping to run an 8:30 pace, but I wasn't sure I could do it. I had done 8:30 on my tempo runs and it felt good but not great. I'd only done one long run of 15.5 and I averaged a 9:30 pace for that. I was confident in my core workouts though, which was new for me in the past 3-4 months.

The organization: The Red Mountain 50/30K was a great small race. I did the 30K which only 45 of us ran, so not sure about the 50K but it seems like a well organized event. The aid stations were awesome - tons of gu, Heed drink, and lots of other goodies, and the volunteers were helpful. So now the actual race.

The prep: It rained on the car as we drove to the busses so it didn't seem promising, but it held off for the rest of the day. We boarded a couple school busses and at the appointed time headed to the starting point. Got there and 4 portapotties awaited, which was perfect for 45 of us. It was a bit chilly but I had on a long sleeve shirt and that worked great. I used the john a couple times, added more body glide, got in a decent warmup, then put my long sleeve shirt away in my drop off bag.

The race: We got started on time and headed off. Perfect weather - cloudy with a bit of a breeze. My goal was an 8:30 pace and I did my best to keep that at the beginning, but got talking to a few different people and fell off pace a bit, but that was okay. The first aid station was mile 3 and I stopped and took water and Heed then took off again, feeling good. Not long into the race I realized that I should mentally split the race into three 10K races, and that strategy worked great. My first 10K was about a 55:00 split which I felt great about. Before the second aid station I was starting to feel hungry and really needed to pee. I was glad to see aid station two. Got some Hammer Gel (Montana Huckleberry in honor of my state) and some electrolyte drink and water, peed, then headed off again. I ran a couple miles with a guy who was doing a similar pace, but left him as I wanted to push an 8:10 pace, which I'd been doing for a while and felt good doing. At the third aid station I took more gel and electrolyte, and knew I was nearly halfway done, but that didn't matter - mentally I was nearly done with my 2nd 10K. Just as I neared 12.4 miles, I heard footsteps behind me and wondered who was running so fast - didn't recognize the guy so yelled out "50K?" and he said yes. He was hauling. The 50K started an hour before we did. He's the only one who passed me after the start and he won by a long ways. Knowing that I only had a 10K left was awesome, as I knew the big hills were coming up. I also started reeling in a girl who skipped a couple of aid stations and was way ahead. I passed her at the bottom of the big hill, and went up the hill making good time. At the steepest parts I was doing a 9:30 pace, which I felt great about. Got to the top and hit an aid station. Took more gel and electrolyte and hit the loo for the last time. Another guy ahead of me left before me and I was trying to reel him in. He had to walk after 1/2 mile so I passed by, my last pass. We then had some rolling hills before the last hill. The last aid station was at the bottom of the last hill and I only took a sip of water and poured the rest on my head. I went up the hill feeling good and kept my pace in the 8's. I saw my Dad at the top of the hill and that got my legs going. I passed him doing a 7:30 pace, which felt okay but was a bit too fast. I knew we were close to the finish, but the course forced us to do a big loop before the finish so that messed a bit with my head. I slowed my pace on the stretch of dirt road down to a 9:00. Once we got back on pavement I picked it up. There was a guy ahead of me by 1/4 mile and it was nice to see which direction to take to the park. After making the last turn I picked it up a bit then saw my wife, boys, and nephew looking for me. I waved and told them to go back to the finish line. I got to the park and followed the arrows without knowing how far I had. I sprinted until I realized I still had a ways. My boys were running with me, but I was going at a good pace. When I got close enough to the finish I sprinted and got up to a 4:36 pace for the last bit, then crossed the finish line. I felt great! By my watch, I ran 19.1 miles, not the 18.6 that was advertised. Not sure why the discrepancy. 

The result: Ran a 2:43:36, good enough for 9th overall and 3rd in my age division. AP: 8:35. I was hoping for a 2:40 and just missed that, but I am really happy with the results. I was able to run strong up the hills and I was able to finish strong, which were my two biggest worries. I ran a negative split race which I am stoked about. It was a beautiful day for a run. My thighs are killing me from the hills! It's a good hurt, but stairs are tough to walk down. :)

Splits: 

Mile	Total Time	Cum Time
1	00:08:55	00:08:55
2	00:08:55	00:17:50
3	00:08:16	00:26:06
4	00:08:35	00:34:41
5	00:08:27	00:43:08
6	00:08:28	00:51:36
7	00:09:20	01:00:56
8	00:08:23	01:09:19
9	00:09:51	01:19:10
10	00:08:12	01:27:22
11	00:08:18	01:35:40
12	00:08:58	01:44:38
13	00:07:53	01:52:31
14	00:08:16	02:00:47
15	00:09:57	02:10:44
16	00:07:59	02:18:43
17	00:07:57	02:26:40
18	00:08:14	02:34:54
19	00:07:54	02:42:48
20	00:01:05	02:43:53

Garmin Report: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/81053674

Raining and windy outside so treadmill today. I probably shouldn't be running yet as my quads are still really really sore, but I had to get in some miles. Started out real slow, at a 4.2 to get warmed up, then after a bit moved to a 5.0 for a while, then 6.0 and topped at a 6.5. Bumped it to a 7.1 for a few seconds but quickly backed down as my legs aren't ready to run faster. Afterwards I did some curls and tricep work. Planned to do some planks but that lasted 30 seconds as my quads were screaming. Didn't realize how much leg work goes into planks. I'll wait a few days and let the muscles rebuild before doing more strenuous stuff.

Beautiful day outside. Too bad my legs are still dead from the weekend race. Went real slow and felt okay but definitely not good. Will keep going slowly and may take a few days off.

Took the last couple days off as I'm tired and lacking motivation. I guess it's the post-race blues coupled with the post-vacation blues. I haven't not felt like running in so many months that it's kind of freaking me out. Got a good night's rest last night (fell asleep watching TV, which never happens) and I should be up for a nice long run tomorrow. It was interesting going a couple days when I wasn't even interested in looking at running magazines. I normally devour them.

Went running with a friend who's been struggling with her runs. She did a 30K last June and is training for it again but couldn't mentally get past 6 miles, so we did 8. During the run she was still struggling so we switched to the Galloway 4:1 run/walk. It worked well for her - I think she'll start doing that. We also figured that her recent dead legs may be due to a medication she switched since last year's run.

It was a chilly morning, 32 with 20 mph wind gusts. Felt great during the run but had a hard time warming up afterwards, but I think I was just psyching myself out of going outside again to finish the chicken coop. It was a long windy day.

Started out with a nice easy run - beautiful day today. A decent climb up through the local college then back towards town. On a little trail by the road I was going along at a 7:30 clip unintentionally so I picked up the pace and was in the 5s for a short stretch. It felt so good! Wish I could run like that anytime all the time.

Bicycles 1:15; Plank 1:15, 1:00; side planks 1:00 each.

4 miles from the Y. Started off with a plan to do 9-9:30 miles but then saw two women from work ahead of me and I had to catch them, so cranked it up to a 7:30 pace for a mile or so and of course I had to keep that pace after I passed them otherwise I'd look stupid. After hitting the end of the street I turned around and slowed my pace. It was a tough couple miles to finish up the run. I think I'm still not fully healed from my race 10 days ago plus I was feeling it from pushing at the beginning of the run. Anyhow, felt good and gave my lungs a nice stretch.

Did 3 sets of squats, shoulders, and curls afterwards and 1:00 plank.

5 mile run outside. 51 with 20 mph wind gusts. Wore thin gloves out and glad I had them on, but took them off on the way back as the wind was behind me and I heated up quickly. Overall a nice day for a run. Probably pushed it a bit more than I should have but felt great at the end.

AP 8:58, splits 9:32, 9:15, 9:07, 8:46, 8:07. Avg HR 146.

2.7 mile mostly easy run outside. I keep letting my ego get the best of me. I saw another runner one block away from me running the same direction and we were about the same speed so of course I had to pick it up more than I had planned. It only lasted until we got to the local college then we split off, but I wonder if I'd act like this all the time if I lived somewhere that had more runners? Am I a normal goofball?

AP: 8:59. Splits 8:54, 9:08, 8:52. Avg HR 148.

3 sets of squats, shoulders, and curls. 1:30 plank; 1:00 bicycle, 20 pushups.

Total Far Side moment on this morning's run. Saw a deer trip over a fence and do a complete somersault before running away. She's fine, but obviously embarrassed. It was hilarious. During the run I starting planning a possible race to benefit our school sometime in the future. We live in Blue Creek and the next community over is Duck Creek. We could start at the Yellowstone River, run up the hills past my house and over a gravel road to Duck Creek, ending at the Yellowstone River. Would be tough but a good challenge. Could wrap in a fun run and 5K/10K at the starting line. I'll keep thinking about it and talk to some folks who've organized races before.

Anyhow, nice run this morning. Perfect weather. Wore a long sleeve tech shirt and my hands were cold part of the time but not frozen. It's a nice steady climb mostly on a gravel road. On the way back wind was behind so warmed up a bit but not too much.

AP 8:54. Splits 9:41, 9:09, 9:03, 10:05, 9:41, 9:10, 8:25, 7:23, 8:37, 8:32, 8:15. Avg HR 149, Max HR 169.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/83990962

Raining today so treadmill miles. 2% incline, warmed up at 6.0, most of run at 7.0 with a 1/2 mile stretch of 7.5 and the last .25 at 8.0. Afterwards did 3 sets of squats, shoulders, and curls. 1:30 plank, 1:00 bicycles, 25 pushups.

I got into the St. George Marathon! Their system was a bit whacked this morning so I thought I didn't get in but after sulking I quadruple checked different ways of inputting my info (Russ, Russell, Montana, MT) and was very surprised when my name popped up. I'm very excited as I get to go to St. George for the 2nd time this year and am looking forward to running the same course that my Dad did his sole marathon in 1987 (approx). His running inspired me to want to do a marathon but it took me 20 years before I figured out how to act on my desire.

Had to skip yesterday's run to help some friends from church whose house flooded just before lunch. Moved everything that we could from their basement to upstairs. That was fun in work shoes and work pants in 18 inches of cold water. Felt like it does after soaking the feet in an ice bath. 25 of us came back last night and cleaned out the entire basement. Moved out all the carpet and pad and shop-vac'd all the water. Amazing how much work we got done in a couple hours.

The rain has finally stopped so I got in a nice run outside. 5 miles in 51 degree temps with sun. Perfect. AP 8:48, splits 9:17, 8:50, 8:39, 8:38, 8:36. Finished up with 2X1:00 planks, 2X1:00 bicycles, and 25 pushups.

Nice run outside. Beautiful out there, everyone mowing their lawns as the rains have stopped and the grass is tall. Glad I don't have hay fever. Or grass fever. Or tree fever as the blossoms are finally starting. Took it pretty easy, but it was a bit tougher of a run than it should have been. I think my Thursdays are normally only 3 miles or so and I'm guessing that's why it felt tough.

AP 9:01, splits 9:16, 8:57, 8:59, 9:03, 8:39. My HR monitor is at home.

1:00 plank, 1:00 bicycle, 25 pushups.

I finally got a taste of what it feels like to run fast and I liked it! Started off the run a bit sluggish and after the 2nd mile wasn't sure I would make it 5 miles let alone 10. The effects of 3 straight nights of 6 hours sleep wore on me a bit. After a ways scenery changed, slope started heading downhill, and I guess my body was warming up. Kept it at a nice 9ish pace. Got to watch a crop duster make turn after turn for quite a few of my mid miles, so that was really cool. No tripping deer unfortunately. Turned around just before 5 miles as I had to be  home by 7:45. Felt good heading back slightly uphill and kept a decent pace. I realized I might not make my 7:45 time so started picking it up more, and then as I went I felt better and better and picked it up more and more until I ran in the 6s for the last mile. It felt awesome. Good run. Came home & had a nice pancake & eggs breakfast. We all wished Connor a happy 10th with our traditional breakfast in bed then he opened his presents. Star Wars Legos III for Wii and an airsoft pump shotgun. Grins all around.

AP 9:02, splits 9:45, 9:30, 11:00 (fixing clothes & iPod), 9:43, 9:27, 9:48, 8:48, 8:00, 7:11, 6:33.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/85511882

Nice decent paced run up a hill, around, and back to the Y. Not sure of splits, but in the 9-9:30 range I think. Cooled down with a .3-.4 walk back, which I've been doing quite a bit of. It's nice to be cooled down when I get inside. Then did 3 sets of my squats, shoulders, and curls. Ended with 1:00 plank, 1:00 bicycle, and 25 pushups. Going to run to work tomorrow as part of Bike/Walk to Work Week. Think I'll do the same on Friday. Have a scout campout Saturday so these will sub for my long run.

Ran from home to work as part of Bike/Walk to Work Week. Rained part of the night so the first 0.8 miles was muddy but only a slight drizzle the rest of the way. My kids got me a bright yellow/green long sleeve tech shirt for my birthday last month and I'm glad I have it. Nobody was going to hit me this morning. Hands were cold the first few miles up on top but warmed up when I dropped down off the hill and got closer to town. A nice run, I kept up a good pace most of the way. Probably too fast for a longish run but I wanted to get to work at a decent time and I left 15 minutes later than planned. Overall a good morning and a nice hot shower at the Y.

AP: 8:24; splits 9:20, 8:21, 8:18, 7:47, 8:28, 8:30, 8:22, 8:08.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/86241683

Easy peasy 5 miles. Legs a bit sore from yesterday's longer-than-normal midweek run so took it nice and easy. Must have accidentally hit the start button after stopping so my AP is messed up. Beautiful day outside. 55 with a slight breeze and some clouds. Going to be raining the next while, so they say.

Splits 9:44, 9:03, 9:09, 9:33, 9:00.

3.1 miles in between rain showers. It was spitting when I started so thought I'd get caught in the worst of it but the spit ended without fanfare. A nice run on a fairly chilly day with the breeze.

AP 8:36. Splits 9:07, 8:15, 8:27. Avg HR 144, Max 154.

Ended with 3 sets each of squats, shoulders, and curls. This morning did 8 minute abs.

4 TM miles at the Y with my beautiful wife nearby, but she didn't want to stick around for a long run and I definitely didn't want to do TM miles for 12 +, so we then parted ways and she drove home and I ran. She beat me. Thankfully had a break in the rain for my run, although I was going to do it anyway. Lots of wind hit once I got out of town but it was sideways. Gusts are decent when the wind knocks your right foot into your left calf. Happened a few times. GPS wouldn't start up for the first 1 1/2 miles so not sure of my splits, but did well. Stayed in the mid to low 8s for most of it. Lots of elevation the last 4 miles so pace dropped off a lot (think it climbs 600 feet?) but was able to keep it up for flattish stretches. Overall good run.

Dead legs after my highest weekly mileage in 10 months. Kept it in the 9s mostly, sometimes at 10, briefly in the 8s. Should've slept more last night. Finished up with 1:15 plank, 1:00 bicycles, a few more other situps.

I've been exhausted all week and my wife helped me realize that I was still tired from Saturday's run. I didn't run Tuesday or Wednesday. I pushed it too hard going uphill on Saturday and this week I've felt like I feel after a race - tired of running. That's odd for me, so that's how I realized what had happened. I took it very easy today. Felt a twinge in my right calf during the run. Stopped & stretched & didn't feel it again but I feel it now a couple hours after. Odd. I didn't do any extra work after my run. I also haven't done any pushups this week nor any planks. I think I'll do a 5K on Monday as I don't think we're going camping due to the crap weather. I don't have a 5K time so I really look forward to doing one.

AP: 9:29. Splits 9:49, 9:32, 9:28, 8:57.

Really dialed back the mileage this week. Went on a nice easy jog around Riverfront Park right on the Yellowstone. Had to turn around a few times as lots of the trails are flooded. Lots of mud on the parts where the water has receded. Apparently hit 3rd highest level ever a few days ago. Exciting. Felt my right calf a bit but it warmed up. Now a few hours later it's sore. Rolled it and iced it, will hit the ibuprofen. Went on a short run to prep for my first true 5K on Monday. I think I'll run 4-5 miles before to get warmed up. Seemed to work on my long run a few weeks ago so will give that a shot.

AP: 8:59.

Did my first official 5K today and did much better than expected, especially given the course. Lots of up and down for a 5K plus had rain although it lightened up for the race, thankfully. It was a small race, fewer than 100 people, and done on a paved bike path on the rims of Billings. Beautiful, but total elevation gain of 344 feet and not as much drop. It was a partial out and back course - turned around then went back a mile or so. I'm surprised I could keep my heart rate as high as I did for the entire race. For the last 1.5 miles I was behind a couple guys by 30 feet or so and with .2 to go I passed the one guy and then poured on the juice and only lost to the other guy by about 3 feet. The winner only finished in 19:12 and he's a 16:40 5K PR so this was a tough course. That makes me happy. I'm stoked to be in the 22's and if I can get a nice flat course I'm sure I can get in the 21s. Overall a great race. I was happy it was raining and in the 40s versus hot and in the 80s or higher.

To backtrack a bit, I started off the morning by going and registering. The race is a fundraiser for families of veterans and I was bummed to see it cold and rainy as I'm sure that kept lots of people away. I got the start time wrong by 30 minutes which worked out well. I parked my car at the starting spot 1.5 miles away then ran the course. The plan was to run the course in some rain gear then head back to the truck and change into dry clothes before the race. The plan worked out perfectly although I only had about 1 minute to spare, too close for comfort. Ran the course and it was raining pretty good. Tried to keep a 9:00 or above pace and keep my HR low. I was able to do that for the most part. Had a warm hat on and fleece gloves and a track suit. Perfect for a warmup, but much too hot for a race. When I got back to the truck everyone else was already at the start line so that made me nervous. I was glad nobody was in the parking lot to see me wriggling around in the back seat. Got changed, got my number pinned to me just in the nick of time. Ended up running in shorts, short sleeve tech shirt, and gloves. Ended up being perfect for me, with my always used headband. Glad I changed socks and shoes as they were soaked from my warmup. Got to the start, stood around for a second, and took off. It was straight up a hill so the HR was up and a few who'd started off too quick dropped off. Passed a few people then only passed a couple after that. Anyhow, I enjoyed it and look forward to my next 5K. Not sure when I'll do that.

AP: 7:03. Splits 7:11, 7:21, 6:58, 5:05 (.19). Course was a bit long. Avg HR 176 (wow!); max HR 185 at the very end kick.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/89126331

3 miles today after taking a break yesterday. I'm surprised how tired I am after the 5K, but I did run a nice warmup and then gave it my all for 3 miles. Still, it felt more like a 10 mile race rather than just 3 miles. The weather is finally beautiful. Got a nice run in, 62 degrees but looked and felt like 75. Afterwards did 2X1:00 planks, 1:00 bicycles, 25 pushups.

AP: 8:07, splits 8:44, 7:40, 7:58.

Jimmy John's Beach Club on Wheat. Yum. Started my marathon training this week and following Hal's Intermediate 1 schedule. Thursday is my new mid-week rest day so it's also my new go-to-lunch-day. Hit Jimmy John's with my friend Blake. Second JJ sandwich of the week. A good week. By the way, if you ever get a JJ pickle with your sandwich, I wouldn't advise eating the whole thing in one day. 1 JJ pickle = 2300 mg sodium, 100% of the daily value. I guess it would fit into an ultra run instead of sodium pills....

5 pace miles for today, using Hal's Intermediate 1 marathon plan where he gets me tired on Friday then runs me long on Saturday (those are the days I'm using anyhow). I tried to keep an 8:15 pace but kept going faster than that. The miles went pretty well, even in 30 mph wind gusts. With the wind at my back it was tough to keep cool so I didn't go as fast coming back as I thought I might, but still happy with my pace even though I'd like to get in a rhythm at one pace and stop fluctuating so much. A short warmup before turning on the clock and a warmup and walk after turning off the clock.

AP: 8:01. Splits 8:17, 8:02, 8:03, 7:58, 7:43. Avg HR 163, Max HR 171. Total ascent 431 ft, total descent 444 ft.

Ran 7.16 miles this morning from Red Lodge up towards the Pass and back. AP 8:52. Splits 9:22, 8:55, 9:07, 8:47, 8:20, 8:17, 8:40. Avg HR 151, max 164. Ascent 476, descent 457.

Grabbed breakfast at the hotel, showered and changed, then headed up to the top of the Beartooth Pass as far as we could go. Amazing how tall those drifts are - at least 12 feet in one spot. Then went on a hike, but were constantly dodging snow drifts blocking our path so turned around after 2.5 miles (the lake was 5 miles up). So, hiked a total of 5.17 miles, total ascent 2492 feet, descent 2488 feet.

3 mile run in the "heat". It was only 75 but felt like 90 as we haven't seen temps this high since October. I think I'll start running in the morning.

AP: 8:32, splits 9:09, 8:34, 8:03, 7:47 (.22). Avg HR 147, Max 161.

5 TM miles as it was sprinkling outside and I really dislike running in the rain, even more than I dislike running on the TM. 5 minutes of 6.0 at 0%, then 3 miles of 6.6 at 2%, 1 mile at 7.5, then back to 6.6 before a 5 minute cool down.

AP: 8:58. Splits 9:47, 8:53, 9:05, 8:35, 8:29.

Three easy miles, then did dumbell squats, shoulders, and curls. Ended with 1:30 plank & 1:00 bicycle. Rain ended just before running - sweet.

Three easy miles in beautiful 60 degree temps. Legs a bit sore from yesterday, which is crazy to me. Guess I haven't done my little squats for a while longer than I thought. When I skip doing them I feel it in my right adductor. It always gives me a little problem but doing these squats helps it. I think the PT said it tears the muscle a bit so then it repairs itself. It's hard to run slowly. I averaged a 9:41 pace and it about killed me to run so slowly. I plan on doing 9 miles tomorrow so wanted to keep the energy level high. Camping out tonight with Connor, my Webelos scout at Cub Day Camp so I might not sleep well. Should be fun.....

So, during my run I was on the sidewalk about to cross at an intersection and some yayhoo pulled way out into the road before stopping, so instead of going in front of him and risk him not seeing me I went behind him, and as I did I caught my toe on the dip in the sidewalk and turned my ankle. Cursed a bit and flipped off the stupid driver (in my mind) and kept going. After a block I felt fine and ran the rest of the way. After sitting for 2 hours and getting up just now it's a bit sore. Not my ankle, but on the right foot just below the ankle towards my heel it's stretched. I'm sure I just pulled something, no big deal. Do I run the 9 miles tomorrow or give it a rest? Decisions, decisions.

Thankfully my ankle felt much better when I woke up today (thank goodness I brought my iPod to the Webelos Campout as I relied on it at 2:30 am to drown out the snoring of the guy in the tent 3 feet behind my head). Attended Day Camp all day today with Connor and got home about 4 pm. Had a killer thunderstorm roll through the area. It was awesome. Went running with Dylan and Kaylene as he wanted to do 2 miles today. I ran 2 miles with them very slowly (AP 12:22) then headed back out for my long run. Was inspired by Kam always running up that 2000 foot hill so I ran down the main road so that I could run back up it. 7.54 miles total, AP 9:05. Splits 9:20, 8:49, 8:36, 8:39, 9:37, 9:23, 9:26, 8:39. It was fairly warm out at 68 and very humid but felt good. Overall a great day. Glad my ankle was just a bit of a tweak.

Started off doing a nice slow recovery run for the first couple miles then felt like running a bit faster and as I was cooling down I passed the local track on my way back to the Y. I was warmed up so figured I'd see how fast I could run a track mile. Splits were 1:43, 1:42, 1:42, and 1:35 for a 6:42 mile.  HR was 165, 174, 178, and 180. Felt good. I need to do some track work although it's not built into my Hal plan. It sure felt good gliding along as I sprinted the last 50 yards to the finish. Wish I could run like that always. Those lucky people who can run 5:00 miles regularly are pretty darn amazing.

5 miles on a beautiful day. AP 8:45. Splits 9:05, 8:49, 9:00, 8:30, 8:29, 8:24. Avg HR 147, Max 160.

Easy 3 miles. AP 9:04. Beautiful day! Did 3 sets of squats, shoulders, and curls. Joined boot camp for abs, did planks then sliding planks and sideways sliding planks. Need more core workouts.

At the Montana 2011 Camporee, did the 1 mile fun run in 6:51 then did 4.5 miles along the highway and back to camp for breakfast. It was a marathon pace run so I tried to keep it at 8:15. Slowed to 8:40 going up hill but sped up downhill and combined with the fast first mile, my AP was 7:51. Splits 6:51, 8:25, 7:39, 7:58, 8:12, and 8:10 pace for the last .5.

After getting home from the Camporee Kaylene and the kids went to our friends house and I ran from our house to theirs. Nice run. Yesterday I must've left the GPS watch on because it died on me after 1 mile. I finished in approximately 50 minutes. Run felt good, although I had a couple nice sideaches as I did this run starting at 8:15 PM, the latest I've ever run. It was only a couple hours after a church Father's Day picnic so the hamburger, salads, and lemonade didn't sit too well. They went away after a bit.

Nice weather, nice short run. Legs feel good, ready to boost up some mileage in the next few weeks. I need to get more sleep and I need to start running in the morning as work is starting to pick up over the next couple months. AP 8:49.

Did 6 miles this morning before my dentist appointment. I've decided that I don't particularly like doing out and back runs from my home. It's always uphill to start and if I go downhill after the first mile, it's all uphill back home unless I run to the Y and get picked up there. Well, it does build character, right?

AP 8:24 Splits 9:28, 8:44, 8:59, 7:51, 7:53, 7:29. Beautiful morning.

3 miles in the warmth. Nice and all, but I prefer it in the 50s. Ran early once this week, will start doing that most days. Started off nice and slow, around 9:00, then bumped it up. I don't know if I should be bumping it up or if I should try and keep these runs around 9:00 but I kind of can't help it. It's just fun to run fast in a slight uphill or something else that's a bit challenging, then seems a waste of energy not to unload a bit faster on the downhills. Afterwards did 3 sets of curls, shoulders, and squats, then 1:30 plank, 1:00 bicycles, and 20 pushups (plus 25 this morning).

AP 8:25. Splits 8:51, 8:42, 7:45, 8:19 (.38). Total ascent 478 ft, descent 504 ft.

A tough 6 miles this morning. Supposed to be marathon pace miles, an 8:15 is what I'm shooting for. Legs & all felt sluggish from the get go all the way through. Didn't start clocking until I got about .5 mile of warmup, plus wanted to wait until I got some downhill to get in a push. It's down for .1 then up for .4 and I made it through okay, but the whole run I checked my watch to see how far I'd gone. Are we there yet? To make a long story short I walked for 30 seconds on the way back, and with a mile left I almost quit running, thinking I'd be way off my pace. Turns out that my overall average pace was 8:08 which is shocking. I felt soooo slow. I guess my first 3 fast downhill miles were more than enough to make up for my slow uphill miles. Feel fine now but that was a tough run. My previous 6 miler was too fast and I felt it today. Need to learn to chill a bit more on my regular runs.

Also, just realized that I broke 500 miles for the year. Woot! If all goes well I'll break 1000 for the year, a non-written goal of mine.

Gorgeous run on the half marathon course for the Big Sky State Games on July 16th. It's along the Yellowstone River and is right next to the river for the first 2 miles. The river is raging right now, at one of the highest levels ever and fun to watch as it's cruising but not doing too much damage anywhere - just a few farmer's fields. I felt pretty good on this out and back course and tried to keep it at a 9:00 mile, but slipped under than frequently. At the end I cruised at an 8:30 pace which is really comfortable for me when warmed up. Had my first roadside squatting experience. That was fun. Glad I brought some toilet paper. BTW, where can I buy me some individual wetwipes? I'm having a hard time finding them.

AP: 8:47. Splits 9:04, 8:43, 8:48, 8:46, 8:55, 8:55, 8:47, 8:57, 8:46, 8:43, 8:47, 8:48, 8:21, 7:45 (.19). Avg HR 145, Max 160. Ascent 609 feet, Descent 608 feet.

Nice 3 mile run this morning. A bit chilly on the hands but perfect once I got warmed up. I told myself I'd run this morning if I woke up and sure enough I woke up at 5:50. I guess that's my new schedule. Or something like that. Definitely won't be running at lunchtime anymore.

AP 9:06, splits 9:46, 8:56, 8:34.

6 mile run this morning. Not sure I can handle early morning runs every day. I like them on Saturday but I was really feeling it this morning. Headed up the hill for the first half although the way I went I hit some downhill 3/4 of a mile before the turnaround, so coming back was a bit tough up that hill. I was dragging today even on the downhill. I think I'll take tomorrow off. AP: 8:59

I am so confused. I always take Thursday off, so since I took yesterday off I was planning on taking a couple day break and seeing how I felt Friday. So, I ran today at lunch time, thinking that I'd already taken 2 days off and if I didn't run today it would be 3 straight. Crazy cat. I guess it had been a 30 hour break so not bad, but that explains why my legs still felt a bit leaden today. I overdid it last week and ran too fast for my increased mileage, especially on my long run. I did the half probably 10 minutes slower than I'll run it in the race, and that's way too fast. I'm supposed to do 6 miles tomorrow and 12 on Saturday and we'll see tomorrow how I feel. I've been dragging all week. Bummer! I was hoping I could get up to 40-50 mpw but that's looking like a pipe dream. The few times I've hit above 30 the next week I've dragged so much I've had to take a day off. Hopefully it will improve as I up the miles, but I won't up the miles if it doesn't improve. Vicious cycle? No worries - will all work out.

Today was nice even though it was in the 70s. A bit warm and my shirt stunk to begin with, always a nice combo.

Well, my brain wanted to run today, so I found myself looking at the clock at 5:30 am, then at 6:00, and finally at 6:10 it said WAKE UP! So I did. Hadn't planned on running this morning so went to bed late. Woke up, got dressed, should've listened to the urge to go to the bathroom but didn't, and went for a run. Beautiful morning for a run - overcast skies, it had just sprinkled, and was 59 degrees with a slight breeze. Perfect. I ran slowly. About a 10:00-10:30 pace heading up the hill, and about a 9:30 pace coming down. Just after turning around to head home that urge became more than an urge, and I found myself on the side of the dirt road, thankfully hidden (although no vehicles came by). I'm thankful for lots of long grass as I had no kleenex or tissue or wet wipes. But wet grass strands apparently do a fine job.

My average running pace was 10:20 although I didn't stop my watch for the bathroom break or for a picture taking break so it was closer to 10:00. I feel great. I will now start running slowly more often than not, as that is most likely my key to increasing my mileage - run slower, longer. I'm going to try that. 12 slow miles on the docket for tomorrow.

Ran 9 miles by myself, then 2.7 with my family during our first annual Hall Family 4th of July Fun Run 5K. Only our 12 year old made it the full 5K. The 10 year old had his tonsils out a week ago so he drove the 4 wheeler around for water breaks, the 7 year old was wearing the wrong shoes and they rubbed his ankle bone, and the 5 year old did as well as she could. Mom and Dad ran with the younger kids so we did what they did. It was fun.

On my 9 miler, I ran 4.5 out and back. Ran up the main road from my house, a route I love but haven't done in a while. Was right at a 10:00 pace running up hill and probably 9-9:30 running back down. Forgot to use Glide on my rear and I'm paying the price today. Ouchie momma! That's one sore behind.

3 miles from my house. Went shirtless, so had to run down the road where there are no houses. It seems pretty steep, but it's only 370 foot drop in 1.5 miles. Decent hill I guess. Coming back up I kept it nice and steady but never stopped. It's a gravel road, and a poor gravel road at that, so the footing is always a challenge. I'm sure I ran 3.5 miles but only got 3.0 to show for it, with all the foot slippage.

Then went and had a great day with the family and ended with a killer fireworks show in Laurel. It really is an amazing show and we had great front row seats. A bit too close for most of the kids and we left early but that meant we also missed the amazing traffic jam.

Went to bed late with the fireworks last night so instead decided to try out some heat running. It was 82-84 while I ran today so I took along a water bottle full of gatorade. I don't normally for only 6 miles but thought it best with the heat and glad I did. The run was uneventful and felt pretty good. From mile 1-5.5 I chased another runner who happened to be doing the exact same loop I was doing, not a normal occurrence. Made me run a bit faster than I would have, but nothing crazy.

AP 9:16, splits 9:46, 9:39, 9:19, 9:05, 8:54, 8:51. Avg HR 145, Max 158. Up 195 ft, down 194 ft.

Woke up just after 6 so decided to go for a run. 65 and humid out, a bit odd for us. Nice slow jog, nothing eventful.

Thursday is my day off, but for the first time in a while I hit the gym and did some upper body weights. I've found that lower body kills me while doing decent miles, so staying away from that for a while.

6 MP miles today, uphill the first half. My marathon pace is an 8:15 so I tried to keep it close to that up and blast it down. I did pretty good up, felt good, slight breeze so perfect. Temps 65 and overcast. The downhill felt pretty good, but at 4.5 miles I was tired and done. My legs were beat and my HR was still too high for downhill miles. I pulled it back, telling myself to just do 8:30 the rest of the way. That trick worked. After a while of not thinking about it I pepped up and finished my last mile fast enough to have my average just under my pace. Saw a bachelor herd of muleys and then jumped a rooster pheasant. Hunting season is only one season away....

AP 8:11. Splits 8:35, 8:27, 8:32, 7:45, 8:02, 7:43.

9 miles for the 9th of July. Dropped C off at his football camp then headed to the Y and dropped off my stuff and went for a run. Man, running in town dragged on and on. Last year I did almost all my long runs in the same spot I ran today and it went forever. I guess it doesn't help that this is where I normally run at lunchtime and my miles are only 3-6 around the same areas. I'll stick to the rural roads around my house for long runs, unless I'm running from home into town. That makes it less painful.

I tried to keep at a 9:15 pace and nailed it - AP 9:14. Not sure of splits at the moment, but they were all pretty consistent. Felt good, ready for my 1/2 marathon next Saturday. Hope the weather holds and we get 50s for the 7 am start.

Ran 3 days this week at Scout Camp. It's mountainous so a steep down the first 1/4 mile then steady down most of the way. Today I went down for 1 mile then turned left and went up again for another 1.25. It's 1000 feet higher in elevation and having just gotten to camp I could tell a huge difference. The Grand Teton Relay next month is going to kick my butt I'm a afraid. It's way more than 1000 feet higher and I'm doing tough uphill legs. We won't win, but will be a good challenge.

Anyhow, on this run it dropped 708 feet and rose 734 feet. A decent climb per 2 miles. AP 9:46, Avg HR 145, Max HR 175.

Meant to do 7 miles but realized I left my troop in the lurch and wouldn't get back in time for morning flag ceremony so I cut it short and still didn't make it in time after showering. Oh well. Nice tough run. Dropped elevation until the halfway point, then all up hill. Fun.

AP 9:30, splits 8:54, 8:38, 8:45, 9:23, 9:28, 12:47 (steep hill & I walked). Total drop 766 ft, total up 728 feet. My thighs are sore.

Down and back up the hill. Made it in time to get my boys up & down to flags. Rained hard last night - very humid this morning.

AP 9:19. Splits 8:11, 8:39, 9:33, 10:34. Dropped 628 ft, up 581 ft. Did I mention sore thighs?

A nice simple run before the 1/2 tomorrow. Got out before 11 so wasn't too hot, but still in the 70s. Legs esp. thighs were still sore from all the hills at Scout camp so felt good to shake them out with a run. Weather should be in the high 50s low 60s for race start time. Wish it were 10 degrees cooler but oh well. And the race course is not the beautiful river-running-by course that it was supposed to be due to an oil spill but alas. I shall run as fast as I can. Shooting for a 1:45-1:50 time.

This was the 1/2 marathon for the Big Sky State Games, an event held every year in Billings. First, hats off to the race director. The RRCA-sanctioned course changed 2 weeks ago due to an oil spill next to the road the course normally runs on. Even with that this course was exactly 13.10 on my garmin and the race started at 7:00:01 (I was apparently a second late pushing the button). Water and Powerade at each aide station and great security volunteers stopping traffic for this small crowd of about 80 runners. Chip timer ended the race. 62 degrees at the start, not sure what it was when I crossed.

My goal for the race was an 8:00 mile. The course starts off flat for the first 2 miles so I just tried to get into an 8:00 pace, which was tough to do. I haven't done many pace races at that speed as my marathon pace goal is 8:15. Anyhow, thanks be to Garmin. I kept on track. Elevation hit from 2.5 to 6 and then some so I tried to keep a good pace on the ups. It wasn't a strong field but I managed to gain good ground on most of the uphill parts. My HR was up there for most of the uphills, about 171 when pushing it and I struggled to get good breaths but the ups weren't long so that worked. I started off near a runner I know and she's a 3:40 marathoner. I stayed behind her until mile 4 then passed her and kept in front of her the rest of the way. I was going back and forth with a few other runners as we were all about the same speed. One lady in pink was walking about every 10th minute but would then pass me after getting up to speed. I was holding pretty steady but thought I was 10-15 seconds off my pace as I didn't do a pace card - that's probably a good idea for the marathon. After the turnaround it was upill for a good stretch then a nice downhill. I ran down in the low 7s so that helped. A slight uphill followed, then the last decent downhill and I again made up time and passed some people. Of the 3 final water stations I drank one cup water and threw the other cup over my head. Felt great. I took some PowerBar gummies about mile 4 then slammed a gel about mile 8. I drank at every station except the last one and I felt good about my hydration and food. The final water station I drank at was about 3.5 miles so after that I tried to turn on the juice. Ended up in the 7s but I was hoping for 7:30s the last few miles. Wasn't able to do that on the relatively flat last few. With 2 to go I passed a couple people that I'd been looking at the entire race. They were on my tail but they must have drank at the last water station while I only took water and threw it on me and kept going. Thanks to the blog I remembered that water with 1 mile to go doesn't do anything. I powered through going as quick as I could and when I hit the 13 mile mark my watch was 1:44:30. Crap! I was hoping for a sub 1:45 finish. I just didn't have a kick in me today though. I went faster but only managed a 7:12 pace for the last .1 when I needed a 6:57 pace. Oh well. I felt like I did the best that I could and was very happy with the results of my first half marathon. I got a negative split of about 1 1/2 minutes. And, as there were only 3 people in my age division I placed and got a really nice medal from the State Games! I wore it around most of the day....

AP: 8:02, splits 7:57, 8:03, 8:06, 8:24, 8:16, 8:19, 7:54, 8:10, 8:13, 7:43, 7:56, 7:50, 7:41, 7:12 (last .1). Avg HR 164, Max HR 178. Can't believe I sustained that high of a HR for 1:45.

Garmin stats: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/99634573

4 miles in hot morning weather for Montana. It was 71 at 6:50 am and warmer than that when I got back. Yuck. I don't know how the runners in St. George and other warm climates do it outdoors. I took this one nice and easy as a recovery from Saturday's 1/2.

AP: 9:38

Warm night & morning - thank goodness for A/C. It showed 77 degrees at 5:45 am so I ran shirtless today. I normally hate doing that as I normally think shirtless runners are dorks but with it being so hot and so early I didn't feel too bad, especially as I was doing 7 miles. Took a water bottle with Gatorade and glad I did. Mouth got very dry with the heat. Kept my pace today steady as she goes as yesterday I felt pretty tired, so wasn't quite recovered from the 1/2 marathon. I feel good today. I went out and back and the out part is all uphill so I was around a 9:30-10:00 pace there. On the way back I tried to keep it at 9:00 or under and even hit a little under 8:00 at some stretches. Legs feel good. A bit sore, but I like that feeling - just enough to remind me I'm alive. The run took just over 1:03 so not sure what my pace was - watch is at home.

Much cooler morning - started at 63 degrees, so left the shirt on :) Perfect temps and had a nice breeze on my way back home. Took it pretty easy on this run. My legs were a bit tired after 7 yesterday and I'm feeling my thighs today so I'm doing some good hill workouts this week. The plan has me hitting 37 miles for the week and I'm doing my best to hit that. Heading out of town for 10 days starting on Friday but planning to get in my 7 miles before driving to Jackson, WY, then doing my 15 miles in Jackson on Saturday. Going up 2500 feet should feel awesome on a long run. Hopefully my lungs can handle the change after less than 24 hours to acclimate. I'm getting excited about the Grand Teton Relay in a month. Now THAT will be a test of the lungs and elevation! Should be a great time.

7 miles before taking off for family vacation.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/102611714

Nice long run in Jackson, WY from where we stayed near Snow King towards the Gros Ventre junction. It was a beautiful cloudless day and the Tetons looked amazing! Ran most of the way on a nice new path that runs next to the road. Last 2 miles or so on dirt as they are working on the path. Felt good. Glad I brought along 2 water bottles + filled a couple gel containers with gatorade.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/102611701

Ran up Cache Creek a couple miles and back (Jackson, WY). Nice cold morning of 50 degrees. Hands were cold until the turnaround.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/102611672

Skipped the run this morning. On vacation plus pretty tired from 37 miles last week.

Nice run this morning from Sunrise Campground in Logan Canyon. Ran up the hill towards Logan for a bit then found a nice nature trail and ran around it once, thankfully made it to a pit stop, then ran around it one more time and back. I'm acclimated as the 7800 feet of elevation didn't slay me.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/102611661

Lagoon today. Not sure how many miles of walking, but it was lots. Thanks Kam for the Little Cheeser's Pizza and bringing two cute girls to hang out with my kids. It was a blast, but exhausting.

6 miles in South Jordan, our final stop on our trip. Nearly made it to the JRP but not quite. My throat is hurting so hopefully I'm not getting sick, but sure not feeling tip top shape today (hopefully just Lagoon recovery). Decent run, didn't make it out until after 10:00 so a bit hotter than I normally experience.

Looking forward to City Creek Canyon tomorrow with Kam. Wish I lived closer so could run with more FRBers more frequently, but I guess I'll just have to talk more Billings runners into joining FRB.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/102611652

Met Kam for a run this morning and had a great time. Ran up City Creek Canyon and with all the conversation I had no idea how much elevation we gained. I was going to shoot for just over 12 miles so that I could get in 130 for the month, but then saw the time so turned around before I got yelled at. Busy day today. Baptism of 8 year old son then 20th HS reunion at Snowbird. So, we turned around, I got home by 9:15, and my lovely wife was still...in...bed. It was a benadryl night. Anyway, had a great run with an old friend and got to soak our feet in the cold creek afterwards. A fun way to start the day and seeing more old friends at night was fantastic. AP: 9:06. Other splits are in the link.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/103359096

Still tired from the weekend and the long drive home yesterday, but I had to get up and run. Did 4 miles near my house in muggy 72 degrees. Took off the shirt after a mile and it was the right choice.

AP: 9:06

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/103359081

Didn't get to bed until after 12:30 and thought about skipping running this morning but we're going on Trek Thursday-Saturday and I'll miss 25 miles of running so I set the alarm and finally rolled out of bed 10 minutes after it went off and headed out. Nice morning, in the low 60s but was still warm so took off the shirt after a few miles. Went uphill and hit my favorite hard hill although I normally only hit it on Saturdays. Had a nice fast run back down to the house.

AP: 8:58

Because of Trek changed things up and did my 10 mile loop. Can't say that I've ever done this before work before, but it was actually pretty nice. Might be a wee bit tired today but it's worth it. Nice weather - mid 60s with a breeze. Not sure of my average pace but it was healthy.

5 miles this morning, and first time running since Wednesday. Weird to have such a layoff. It hurt as I bruised my tailbone on Saturday trying to do a cannonball into a river that I thought was 3 feet deep but was only about 3 inches deep, and landed straight on a rock with my tailbone. Ouch. It could have been much worse as it doesn't hurt to sit, but definitely a strained muscle. Running this morning was uncomfortable at times but not painful so I continued and it warmed up so I was fine. Not sure I can do the full 44 miles this week that my plan calls for, but I'll do as many as I can.

Slept in today. Went to bed late plus felt tired plus feeling the strain of my bruised/strained butt muscle. I felt it yesterday pretty good when lifting a few heavy-ish items that I put back into the Scout trailer. I guess my longest mileage of my plan week isn't going to happen. That's okay. I will go easier this week than planned so I'm ready for the Grand Teton Relay next weekend and my training plan doesn't get totally derailed.

Butt feeling much better today so I got out for 7 miles in a nice cool morning. Amazing how just a one day layoff can help the body so much. I'll keep watching the strain and lay off as needed butt hopefully it's nearly mended. Whew! I was worried it might be a long healer. On another note, hands were cold at about 1.5 miles. Excellent. Fall is just around the corner!

Not sure of average pace as I stopped to tie my shoe and forgot to hit Start... oh well. Nice morning for a run - kept up a decent pace, likely in the 8:50s overall.

Got out for 8 this morning. Supposed to be pace miles so I did my best to keep up the pace but I am tired and I ran an uphill course today so I'm happy that I was able to keep an 8:37 pace (down from my 8:15 MP). Slowest was in the 11's up the steepest hill, fastest was 6:30 heading down the hill. Going backpacking tonight with my 10 year old boy so likely won't get in my 18 miles tomorrow. 2 weekends in a row of missing my long run? I'll have to find a way to at least sneak in 10 miles tomorrow. My butt was feeling pretty good. Hopefully lifting the backpack on/off won't strain it more, but oh well - he's way excited. Should be fun.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/105896440

Evening, backpacked 6.8 miles up 1894 feet, topping at 9000 feet. Felt good. Only struggle was the few times I carried my 10 year old son's backpack for 1/2 mile at a time. Did that a few times. Beautiful spot! My new favorite. It's only 6.3 in there but we took a little detour of 1/2 mile.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/106299689

Active day for me. Backpacked back to the car 6.3 miles. For the last 2.6 I carried my son's backpack also and booked it. Averaged 18 minute miles carrying both packs - my son had to run to catch up every now and then. Dropped 1650 feet - I can feel it in my quads and hammys, carrying about 50-60 lbs that fast. It was good. Finished up in Red Lodge at the Boxcar burger joint and shared a large strawberry shake, cheeseburger and fries with Connor.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/106299676

Had to get my long run in, so after coming home and cleaning up headed out for 12 miles. It was tough. Temps were 86 when I started, but it felt much cooler than that. Ran shirtless and that was tough to handle all the crap from people out on a Saturday night. Was going to run to the pool to meet the family but that closed at 8 so I ran into town and met them at a park. Tough run, but glad to see what I have in me. Today felt like a marathon day. I think I'll be less sore after St. George than I am today.

AP 9:31, splits 9:35, 8:32, 8:22, 8:45, 9:03, 9:49, 11:19 (water break), 9:39, 10:40 (stop light), 9:44, 9:14, 9:26.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/106299667

Had a hard time waking up today, so slept in until something woke me at 7:05. Got up aiming for 5 miles, but at 2 miles my iPod dinged at me so I stopped and saw a meeting reminder for an 8:00 conference call which I'd completely forgotten about. Who does Monday 8 AM meetings? Hoofed it back home as quick as I could and thankfully the call had problems starting so I joined as normal. Not sure of my AP but it was healthy on the way home. A warm morning, my muscles still tired from the weekend.

5 sluggish miles this morning. Apparently I'm still tired from the weekend as yesterday I couldn't get up, and today was tough to wake up and tougher to keep running. I stopped a few times and walked but I kept going. Nice and cool temps - perfect.

AP: 9:36? Can't remember.

Grand Teton Relay, runner #9. Passed/killed 2 people on this leg, running up 539 feet from 7200 feet elevation to nearly 7500 feet. Felt good, was lucky and didn't get the heat that earlier legs had, and I pushed it up the hill as much as I could. Tried to keep my HR to about 165.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/108573466

4 AM run: Leg 21, 4.15 miles. http://connect.garmin.com/activity/108573452. I thought it was a 3.6 mile run but the maps were updated and I failed to see that it was now a 4.3 mile course. It was odd as I ran 2 miles on mostly flat & booked it, then had to jump in the van for 0.5 miles to avoid a busy highway, then get dropped off and go the rest of the way up a steady incline. I was expecting 3.6 so to see the "1 mile to go" sign at 3.1 was tough to stomach, especially in the dark, and I could see the van brake lights 1 mile up a hill. Yuck. It seemed almost as tough as the previous run. I think I only got 1 kill. AP 7:48.

1:30 PM run: Leg 33, 3.01 miles, up "The Pass". http://connect.garmin.com/activity/108573440. This was the toughest uphill of the course, up 1166 feet over 2.9 miles, which is the last 2.9 up on the infamous Teton Pass. It was brutal. I quickly killed a girl after the transition, and my next kill was in my sights. I thought I was keeping a steady pace but apparently I went out too fast. I passed the guy just after 1 mile and I thought I would put a steady gap between us, but I heard his footsteps way too close behind me and he passed me after 1/4 mile and then he gapped me. I walked a few times, as walking was almost as fast as running, but I kept going and made it to the top. We actually got to run downhill the first 1/2 mile of the pass on the Jackson side, and that was fun. I had a few seconds at a 5:35 mile trying to catch somebody. Overall, a good run, and a great relay. AP 11:37.

5 miles in 90 degree sunny temps. Yummy. I was too tired to get up this morning and run so did it at lunch. It wasn't too horrible and I only lost 1 pound to running so life is good. AP 9:28, including a water break and some stop lights.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/109846810

8 miles this morning before our little girl started Kindergarten! I'm so horrible with judging my morning runs against the clock. I always think I'll have more time than I really do. This morning I had figured it out correctly that if I left by 6:15 I'd be fine, but about halfway through I started freaking out that I was going to be 20 minutes late, so started cruising back at a 7:00 pace, which is my 5K pace. Thankfully my real brain kicked in and informed my stupid brain that it had fabricated 20 minutes and I'd be fine. Regardless, I ran back home at just over an 8:00, about MP, and felt pretty good. A bit fast for a Tuesday and this is going to be a long running week, but I'll take it slow tomorrow.

72 degrees at 6:15 AM (what the crap?) so ran shirtless and carried water and life was good. Had a warm 10 mph wind at my side and that really dried out my mouth so I was very glad to have water. Legs felt fine from yesterday and the weekend, so I'm looking forward to my first 20 miler on Saturday since July of last year.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/109846801

5 miles in my new singlet/tank/whatever you call it. Finally broke down and bought a running tank top and then it ended up being a decent morning. I'll use it Saturday for my long run. I figure it's better than shirtless but pretty close to the same amount of cooldown factor. Got all the kids off to school today, so we now have one in middle school and the other three in elementary. Crazy. I'm not pausing to think about the implications of this - it just is what it is.

AP: 8:45 or so. Forgot to stop my watch for a minute or two.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/109846792

5 MP miles. It's all uphill at some point from my house, so I decided to do the tougher pace workout and force myself to finish uphill. Headed out and it's uphill the first .75 and kept it under a 9:00, then hit downhills and stayed in the high 7's for most of that. At the turnaround my average pace was a 7:45 so I worked hard to keep it near that. Did well, and even though it was tough and I wanted to walk, I kept going and the last .7 was able to coast home, running in the high 7's but it felt easy. 68 degrees out when I started.

20 mile run tomorrow - here's to hoping that my body lets me have a good run.

AP: 7:59, Avg HR 157.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/109846785

My first of two 20 milers. Got up at 5 & freaked out when my Garmin wouldn't turn on. Thank goodness for the internet. Worked after a soft reset. Left my house by 5:30, and headed up the hill and then on 4 miles of dirt road over to the next major canyon, Duck Creek. No cars until I got to the Yellowstone, then lots of cars with workers getting there for a 7 am shift to clean up the oil spill from last week. Sorry for the spill, but a huge boon to our local economy.... Ran into town and stopped at a gas station for a pee break & more Gatorade. I'm sure my sweaty $2 was appreciated. Ran on back roads to Dylan's football scrimmage, where they have showers as it's an indoor facility. Had to get an extra mile after passing the facility so go that in then made it back, got some money from Kaylene, bought a quart of delicious chocolate milk from a gas station then enjoyed a lovely shower. Legs felt great right after, but by 2 PM they were hurting so took an ice bath and a nap and feel much better.

AP: 9:06 (including pit stop); 8:57 Avg Moving Pace.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/109846778

5 miles this morning in a cloudy 72 degrees, but thankfully had a slight breeze. Legs still sore from Saturday's run, so felt great to stretch them out. GPS took a while to catch satellites so not sure of time or average pace, but it was healthy. Started out slow, high 9's and finished in mid 7's (downhill). Felt good.

Wildfire in the area, so awoke to a nice smoky morning. Could see the hills glowing last night, and a bit this morning. Don't enjoy the days getting shorter, but I do like being up before the sunrise. Ran downhill to start, kept a nice 8:30 or so pace - that's starting to feel like a good pace, especially on a slight downhill. Turned around earlier than normal as I wanted a bit of a different route. Overall, tried to keep it slow and mostly did 9:30s uphill. Felt like a good easy run. Sunrise was gorgeous - no clouds, so a broad expanse of orange and red along the Eastern hills.

AP: 9:14

Beautiful morning again with a blanket of clouds over the valley, made for a gorgeous extended sunrise. Did my 5 miles, this time a bit of up and bit of over on a dirt road. A mom and her twin fawns didn't seem to know what to do with me - they kept running ahead of me next to the fence, but for some reason wouldn't cross over. I turned around just as they decided to skedaddle across the field instead of risk crossing the road. A wise choice.

AP: 9:11. Felt like a nice run. I like doing 5 miles every time. I think 5 or 6 will be my new standard for a short run once the marathon training is over. That will help me stay in the high 30s to low 40s as my weekly average.

Two mornings ago I took my shirt off mid run due to the heat & humidity. This morning I wore a long sleeve shirt & had to cover my hands until the turnaround as they were freezing. Ah. 44 degrees at the start & at the end. It really was perfect running weather and my times showed it. I've run this same route quite a few times recently and I was able to run much faster on the way back than I have in the past couple months, and I think the cool weather had a lot to do with it. Anyhow, felt very good. Getting nervous for the marathon, even though it's still a month out.

AP: 8:28. Splits 9:31, 9:07, 9:26, 8:42, 8:15, 7:38, 7:36, 7:30.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/111247242

Fairly cool this morning, 45 degrees, but I knew it would warm up. Cut out the toes of some old gym socks and made arm warmers. Worked great. Need to redo it to cover my hands a bit more - they were pretty cold until mile 5. Ran up the hill, up my favorite hill, then kept going for a bit to get some mileage, chasing herds of cows as I went. I chased 3 different herds today. Well, I ran, and they felt chased so they all ran away from me. It was hilarious. Turned and ran on a new road that I've driven before as I went to pick up Kaylene's car that we'd left at a mechanic friend's house. I shorted myself a bit on my 12 mile planned run as the friend said he wanted to leave at 8 am and I took his word for it. Turns out I woke him up and could've done the full 12. No worries. I'm feeling good, ready for this marathon. Now need to figure out how to pull off my 20 miler Saturday with a Fathers/Sons/Boy Scout campout in the morning and a football game in the afternoon. Guess I'll do an evening run. Yuck. Morning runs go so much faster.

AP: 8:37. Splits 9:35, 9:19, 9:08, 10:04, 9:19, 8:31, 7:53, 7:37, 7:33, 7:34, 7:51.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/111796362

Short run before we headed off as a family to Riverfront Park to make breakfast on the Coleman stove. Yum. Run was fine - stayed on the dirt road for most of it, took a new route. I was struggling heading uphill then looked at the watch and I was at an 8:30 going up. Not steep mind you but I'm normally a 9:15-9:30 on that same stretch. On the turn around I got the legs moving and it felt great. I wonder what I can do on a nice downhill course with proper training. Probably do okay. I doubt I'll do that in the SGM but I'm confident that I'll do pretty well.

AP: 8:38 http://connect.garmin.com/activity/112987799

Tough run today, but mostly on purpose. I'm worried about Veyo hill, so figured I'd do my miles heading up my toughest nearby hill. I ran it Saturday and like to tackle it every now and then, but I think I'll start tackling it every run until the Marathon when possible. I felt a little sluggish today, probably from yesterday's work outside. I didn't rest a whole lot and was on my feet most of the day. I was able to get up the hill in a decent time, but coming back down I didn't have the oomph so an 8:00 downhill was tough. I know my legs are beat when that happens. At 6 miles I was doing an 8:44 with a slight downhill and just sluggish, so listened to some Kam advice and bumped up the speed to an 8:15 or so for 30 seconds and that got me out of it. Felt better the rest of the way.

AP: 8:55. 65 degrees out at 5:45 am.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/112987791

5 miles this morning. Beautiful sunrise! One of the best I've seen. There's a thick band of haze on the Eastern horizon from some wildfires (not sure where they are) so the haze diffused the sunrise and completely lit up the horizon with oranges and reds and yellows. It was amazing. Then when the sun finally popped through it was a solid orange. Amazing.

Didn't push it too hard on the run as I'm a bit tired. Need to get more sleep before my 8 miles on Friday and 20 miles on Saturday. So, a cat scared me today. I was nearly home, running past my neighbor's house (1/4 mile from mine) and on the right side of the road there's just tall dried grass, 2-3 feet high. I hear a noise to my right and then suddenly a cat jumped out onto the road right at my feet! I screamed like a little girl and jumped into the air. Then I looked around and I don't think anyone saw me. It freaked me out. I'm normally the one doing the chasing, as I scared away a herd of 50 deer this morning. But this cat had the drop on me. Time to change the shorts.

AP: 8:55 http://connect.garmin.com/activity/112987780

First, a couple weird dreams. Wednesday night, dreamed I was doing the SGM and my legs were completely leaden and I just couldn't do it. I was so frustrated as my training runs have been fine. Had to walk a bunch and finished in 5 hours. Woke up angry! Last night, dreamed I was in Farmington in my old 2 wheel drive Corolla and I started driving up a dirt road and ended up way in the mountains. Looked up and saw a string of headlamps going up a trail, and realized the Wasatch 100 starts today. I saw Davy's green headlamp in the distance and thought that was cool, then I realized I was in 6-12 inches of snow and I was stuck so had to walk back down and my car was stuck for the winter. Very odd. Wonder how those guys and gals are doing?

Now to reality. Ran up the same Veyo test hill as on Tuesday and did it much faster and felt much better. Ready for a campout tonight, football game tomorrow and somehow will fit in a 20 miler at night. AP: 8:26. Splits 9:17, 8:45, 8:38, 9:59, 7:48, 8:01, 7:41, 7:22.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/112987768

My most amibitious and perhaps crazy run to date. We had a Fathers/Sons/Scout campout last night and this morning so that threw out my normal early morning run and I planned to run at night. It's been unseasonably warm - at 6:30 it was still 83 - so I waited until dusk. I don't have a good reflective top yet (plan to buy one but haven't) so I cut up a Harbor Freight one and fashioned it around my waist under my water belt. It worked alright. I had two blinking red lights on back, one blinking green one in front and a headlamp. I felt okay. Headed out just after 8 and drove down to the local gas station as I could buy stuff when I finished. Headed towards the river first for a little warm up, then went up the hill towards my house. My plan was to run up, up, and up, something I'd never done before. It worked pretty well, although it fried my legs and my downhill speeds were much more sluggish than I thought they would be. After about 6 total miles I hit dirt road and realized that with the full moon out I could see better without my headlamp so I turned it off for the rest of the run, except for when cars came and I only saw 3 cars after that. Love rural Billings where I live. Running at night was very interesting. Loved the full moon - loved running without a light. It was tough not being able to just glance at my watch to see my speed and distance, but that wasn't too big a deal. The last 5 miles were really tough. I nearly ended early and ran home which would have cut it short by 2 miles, but I decided against it. Glad I did. I was happy to see I had some toughness/stubbornness in me. Not sure how smart I am, but when I get an idea stuck in my head it's tough to get it out.

Overall thoughts at 12:38 am: hmmm....not sure yet. It was a bit crazy to do such a long run at night, but it was nice being able to run with nobody around. I don't know that I'll do this much more as I really prefer morning runs, but glad to see it's an option to fall back on.

AP: 9:20. Gained 1576 feet elevation, burned 2810 calories. Sleeping this off will be weird. I think I'll be pretty stiff and hungry in the morning.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/113400601

Ran at lunchtime and Garmin has a hard time connecting when I'm downtown. I finally had to stop running after .6 or so miles so it could connect - it was driving me crazy and I wanted to know my speed. It quickly connected and I was on my way, but threw off my numbers.

I started off slowly then kept forgetting it was a recovery run as I was enjoying going Marathon Pace and faster. Legs felt good, everything felt good, but I was hungry and looking forward to leftover stew that my SIL made yesterday. Yum. It kept me going fast, then I backed off for the last couple miles.

AP: 8:41. Splits 9:12, 8:38, 8:18, 8:46, 8:28. Temps in the mid 60s. Thinking of my TOU friends and their prep - wishing I could be there to do some cheering.

6 miles this beautiful fall morning. A bit nippy on the hands. Legs pretty tired, but given that I ran at lunchtime yesterday and gave a good effort, plus still recovering from 20 miles, I felt good. Had a couple miles in the low to mid 8's so that made me happy. 18 days to marathon and counting.

AP: 8:45?

Long sleeved shirt, gloves the whole way. It's only a one-day cold front, but Fall is nearly here. I had a hard time waking up and nearly just slept through this run, but I talked myself into it. I was half asleep the first mile, but after a ways my legs woke up and I got into a nice typical rhythm. I'm glad I got out. 45 degrees with 93% humidity and a 10 mph breeze. It wasn't cold, but chilly through the tech shirt. Glad I ran this morning. Not thrilled, but glad.

AP: 9:11

4 MP miles. Warmed up with 1 mile, then reset the Garmin and hit my 8:15 pace. It was mostly uphill the first two miles, so pushed it good most of the downhill miles, then did a 1 mile cooldown towards home. Temps were 56 which was just about perfect. I wonder if taper madness is going to set in during the next 2 weeks....

AP: 8:07 (for MP miles)

First day of football today, so I dropped off the two oldest boys at 7:15 for their mandatory "first day meeting" and went for my long run. I got back just before 9 and they'd only been waiting a few minutes, then I hit the West High track across the street to finish up the 12.

Overall it was a good run. Kam had advised hitting MP on the last couple miles when I would be tired, and I was planning on doing the run near my house and hitting my pseudo Veyo hill at mile 3-4 so that would've tired me out for the ending. That plan changed, so at mile 3.5 I decided to do 3 MP miles then to wear me out and then hit MP again the last few miles. I struggled that first fast mile, but after that my body woke up (took a gel?) and I was hitting my strides. I kinda couldn't slow down after that, so I decided to push it as best as I could. If the marathon is anything like today's run I should be very happy. I felt great and the rest of the day wasn't too bad. Not too sore, but hungry every 30 minutes. I hate that about long run days. Overall, good last 10+ run before SGM. The football went well - youngest's team tied it up with 22 seconds left on a 2 point conversion, other two won handily, oldest played quarterback a few series and had some great tackles including a sack. Fun day.

So excited for all my TOU friends and FRBers. It was a good day for the blog.

AP: 8:33. Splits 8:51, 8:49, 9:04, 8:34, 8:20, 8:15, 8:11, 8:26, 8:05, 8:35, 8:17, 9:01 (forgot to stop my watch for a while).

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/115128356

4 miles this morning. 50 degrees, hands cold on the out but warmed up on the back. It's definitely getting to that gloves-maybe time of year. After the marathon I don't know if I'll keep running in the morning or switch to lunchtime like I did before summer. We'll see. The run felt okay, but I'm concerned about a couple spots on my body and I'm hoping that they're nothing. Saturday at football I tweaked my groin stepping up onto the stands a little too high. I've got a history of a groin problem - likely the right adductor muscle. I normally do weights a few times a week that fixes that groin problem, but since I haven't been to the Y all summer I haven't been doing weights. I did some today after my run and hopefully I'll fix the groin. Next issue is behind my right knee I've had some twinges of very minor muscle pain. I iced it last week but it wasn't too bad. Feeling it more today, but oddly didn't feel it after Saturday's long run. I'll ice it tonight and hope it's nothing. Then as I was heading home this morning I had pain in my right big toe, like I'd stubbed it. I've never felt pain in that toe, so I'm hoping it's just taper madness setting in. I've heard that all these aches and pains creep up in the last couple weeks and hoping that all the above is just that.

AP: 8:35

5 decent miles. 42 degrees at start so wore gloves and arm warmers (socks) and life was good. From doing 3 sets of squats yesterday my thighs are sore! It's a good sore and will fix the groin issue. I'll do some more of those tomorrow. Felt good on the run. Ended up going faster than I maybe should have, but I'm just running what feels good, not trying to push it, and being wary of injury. My sleep is whacked and the marathon is a ways out. I'm guessing it will be that way until it's over.

AP: 8:40

4 miles, 40 degrees at start.  Bought a pack of cheap white cotton gloves at Harbor Freight - perfect for cool temps. I got them to have a throwaway pair at the St. George Marathon but right now the temps are looking like 60-65 for the low, so I'll need an ice pack, not gloves. The run went okay, but I am tired. Tomorrow's my day off anyway but I'll take a couple or three off. I don't know if it's the sudden aches & pains or if I'm not getting enough sleep (likely culprit) but my motivation for running is pretty low right now. I don't know where it went - it was here on Saturday - but right now I just want the marathon to be over. I've gone from being nervous to being annoyed.

The aches and pains are a weird thing for me. I've heard that it happens during the taper, but thought it wouldn't hit me. My right calf gave me minor aches months ago but during the last 10+ weeks I haven't heard so much as a complaint from really anywhere on my body. In the last week behind my knee is hurting (possible lower hamstring), in yesterday & today's runs my right calf complained a bit, and my right big toe has complained a time or two. I feel like I'm suddenly falling apart right before the big event. I think I'm going to ice, ibuprofen, and imbibe in some sleep (had to keep the alliteration going) and not get up early for a few days and see how I feel. Even for Saturday's long run I might just go for a long walk. We'll see.

Is this normal? Note I am not asking am "I" normal - just is this normal before a marathon for which I've been on an 18 week training plan?

PM - took the Boy Scouts on a 5 mile "hike" around a park on the Yellowstone River. It has a gravel path but is not a typical park - it's very wild and a no leash area for dogs. We did 2 loops then walked back to the truck in the dark (with flashlights) and got our requirement done for 2nd Class. Yay. Now on to figuring out the 1st Class thing they didn't finish at Scout Camp - doing a 1 mile orienteering course. Hmmm.

After a good day of rest and a nice Kam-Allie pep talk, I was ready to hit the road today. Still feeling a few weird aches and pains, but I now know to ignore them. I will do a bit more icing than normal this week and I'm ready to roll at SGM. Good news on the weather front - looks like a bit of a cold front is expected next Saturday, but little chance of rain. 44 at the starting line, and St. George high of 88, so will hopefully only be in the 60s when I finish - hoping to be done about 10:20 or so. Temps are trending towards normal instead of staying high like they are right now.

Ran without the Garmin today - will try and do that all this week. No need to know my times - just need to log some miles.

8 miles this morning. A bit warm at 61 but still very decent. We're having a heat spell. I left the Garmin at home so I just ran. It felt really good not to worry about speed or anything else - just listening to the iPod. No aches or pains. Yay.

I'm debating whether or not to run with an MP3 player. I always do during my runs, but I never have during my races. Do you run with one or without? In what ways does it help you/hinder you?

1 week baby! Things are looking good.

3 easy miles, 4 tomorrow, then 2 on Friday. Taper hell! Actually kind of excited about it. After Saturday's 8 miler I went to football games all day (9:00-5:30) and my left calf was killing me the last 5 hours. Just a throbbing dull ache on the left side of the calf. Went to some friends house after pizza and put an ice pack on the leg and downed 800 mg vitamin I and the throbbing went away. I wasn't worried about it, but man did it hurt, and I had no medicine or ice to deal with it. 5 mornings and counting till M day.

Last run before flying to St. George. No watch, so not sure of speed but felt good. Legs are goofy and doing weird things again, but thanks to Allie's advice I'm not worrying about it and just telling my body to go for it - let out all the craziness so Saturday my legs will be ready. Worried slightly about my right shoulder as I forget that it sometimes yells & screams during long runs. I'm sure it will scream on Saturday, but hopefully it will subside after I let it know that I care. Because I do.

Now that I'm back home I did a new race report. My apologies to whomever reads it. :)

Woke up at 3:30 am, changed and headed down to the bus drop off. I took water, bagels, and Clif bars with me to eat on the bus and at the start. Got to the start at 4:30 and walked to the far North bonfires as those were the first ones burning. Laid around and listened to some conversations, then did some business at the POPs. As it got closer to 6:45 I got in line one more time, but realized that I wouldn’t make it so I got my bag together and headed down to the drop off. Put my bag away and searched for the 3:35 pace balloon. I found it, but there was a crush of people between me and the pacer so I thought I would stay where I was and find the pacer when the race started. That was mistake #1. Before the race started I lost the pacer balloon as he must have moved forward, and I never saw him again. After crossing the start line I ran pretty fast to try and catch up with the pacer, but after a bit of running in the 7’s and not seeing him I backed off, realizing that I probably wouldn’t catch him. It turns out that I was behind the 3:45 pacer as well as I caught up to him much later. Weeks before the race I created a SGM pace bracelet for 3:35, telling me exactly the pace I should hit for each mile based on elevation change and difficulty. Unfortunately I decided not to take that pace bracelet but instead took the Clif pace bracelet which was not SGM specific, and I knew it wasn’t realistic. So, mistake #2 was that I decided I’d run about an 8:30 pace for the first half, then book it downhill the second half and still hit my time. I’m not very good with running math on the fly. Really not good at it, plus didn’t take into account that I wouldn’t be able to run my pace the last few miles. Should’ve thought of that.

So, I chugged along, hitting around 8:30 for the first bit, then sped up with miles 6 & 7 into Veyo. That was really neat seeing the whole town come out to support us. Up Veyo hill I felt strong and passed a lot of people who I’d let go by on the first 5 miles, and I hit a 9:20 for mile 8 and a 9:32 for mile 9 including a pee break on a tree. The next few uphill miles were slower than I wanted, in the 8:40s, but once we got over the hill during mile 12 I started going faster, although it wasn’t as fast as I had planned. Mentally I thought I could hit 7:50s which would make up some good time but those miles were 8:18 and 8:14, which weren’t even on pace for a 3:35. Good downhills came after that and I hit paces in the low 7s and clicked onto a Marathon Maniac who was doing about 7:40 miles. I realized I couldn’t sustain that pace so I only ran in the 7s for a few miles, then hit another pee break at the 17 mile aid station. I felt pretty good for the next few miles, but my times were erratic. 8:23, 8:33, 7:51, 9:21. I knew I was in trouble when I was running downhill and hitting a 9:10 mile during mile 22. Just after that was one of the last uphills and I again felt strong and passed people, but at the top of that small hill I suddenly felt lightheaded and had to walk. The heat was hitting me. I wore my HR monitor and my HR was up way more than it should’ve been at the paces I was running. I was hoping to break 3:38 and with 4 miles to go I could’ve done that with an 8:00 pace but I realized that with the heat that was off the table, so now my goal was to finish as strong as I could. Saw my family at mile 23 and that was awesome. Mile 24 was okay and hit an 8:45, but mile 25 was a 10:00 as I walked quite a bit to keep my HR down. Mile 26 I picked it back up to an 8:55, then the last stretch I was able to get back to an 8:08 to finish. It was great being able to run solid down the chute and I got cheered on by a friend I made in Kansas City who now lives in Southern California and was cheering on his family. Loved that. I grabbed food in the recovery area and hung out there for a while. My gut bomb hit about 30 minutes after that, and then again while walking to the car. Thank goodness we parked near the labor & delivery hospital as I was able to duck in there and use the restroom. I’m glad the gut held out until after the race.

Overall, I’m pleased with the race, but a bit disappointed in how I ran the race. Next time I’ll go with Plan A and not second guess myself or try to do math on the run. But I’ll definitely be back for more.

My paces: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/118876781

I can nearly walk without looking like I'm having leg problems, but not quite. My thighs are the worst as I booked it downhill during the steep parts. Sunday I could hardly sit down, Monday it got a little better, and today I was able to walk the 5 flights of stairs from my floor instead of taking the elevator.

Went to the Y today to get a workout in. Peddled on the recumbent (sp?) bike for 15 minutes while watching a combination of Top Shot (Gatling gun elimination - very cool!), SportsCenter, and Design on a Dime. I need a similar row of TVs at my house. That would be cool. Legs felt good and warmed up. Then did a couple laps around the indoor track, legs still feeling good, then did upper body. 3 sets of curls, triceps, and bench press. Did some abs work - 1:00 planks (been a long while); some laying down toe touches, and some bicycles. Not too many - need to work into doing my ab work as I did nothing over the last few months.

Excited to be post marathon, but ready for more. If I could run one in November I would, but there's none around here and no money to travel to one. My next race is a 5K on Thanksgiving morning. I'm shooting for a sub 21 minute race. That's probably a bit agressive as I don't venture into the 6's very often, but I'll give it a go. It's only 3.1 miles, right?

Legs are much better today, so I decided to return to Boot Camp (circuit training) as I told the instructor months ago that once my marathon training was over that I'd be back. I think I might do it once a week or so as I'm not in good enough shape to handle double workouts.

We started off with 3 laps around the indoor track (17 laps per mile) and I took it very slowly - I was dead last and normally I'm towards the front. My hammies are very tight but the quads feel pretty good. First circuit was 10 step ups, then sprint (slow jog) to the middle of the basketball floor, and 10 lo-jacks, then on to the other end for 20 jumps of the rope. Next circuit was in push up position with hands on towels, going down and sliding one arm straight out, then up and other arm out the opposite side. I did most of those on my knees. Next one worked the quads so I skipped that and did some curls instead. Next was tricep dips; then stairs. First set I went super slow on the stairs and nearly got lapped. On the second time around I realized that I could go up and down the stairs just fine but the run in between the stairs had my tight hamstrings angry so I went super slow shuffle. Next one was hand weights punching straight ahead 1-2-3-4 then a big jump. First round I did a teeny white man jump. Second time I realized I could bring my legs up for a butt kick and that didn't kill my quads. Next one was 10 chest raises, then 10 military press, and repeat for 1 minute. Last one was riding the seatless spinning bike. All circuits were 1 minute.

Glad that my legs are healing nicely. Might try and go for a very slight jog/walk tomorrow morning.

I just noticed that I'm fewer than 20 miles away from 1000 for the year! Wow - I'm feeling good about that. Next year I may just set a mileage goal as there seems to be a direct correlation between miles invested and PRs returned (smart miles of course).