Training in Montana

I wanted to start off the new year right, so I started on the treadmill with a goal of at least 6 miles, and then thought 7 would be good, but 8 was far so I then focused on 8. After 6 I felt great so my new goal became 10. The treadmill I'm using goes up to 99:59, so that was my final goal. I wanted to see what happened. Would the TM stop, turn over, or what? I felt tired after 9, so the last 15 minutes were a slight struggle but not too bad. Achilles felt good nearly the entire time. It was sore afterward so I'm not out of the woods yet but close to it. I iced it just now and it's feeling pretty good. Hopefully double digits will be normal for me once more. By the way, the timer turned over to 0:00. Good time for a cool down.

Question that I need some advice: registration for the Bighorn 30K/50K/50M/100M is this Saturday and the shortest races fill up quick. I'm turning 40 in April & want to do something cool to prove that I can do it. Do I run the 50K again or up my game and do the 50 miler? Or just do the 30K and focus this year on marathons?

3 TM miles at the Y this morning. I sort of wanted to run 13 yesterday for 2013, but that was a bit ambitious given my lack of long runs for the past few months. I ran yesterday in the late afternoon, and today in the morning, so that's 13+ in 24 hours. Good enough for me.

BTW, I can comfortably run up to 7.5 on the TM, although last night while running my 10 and watching the Rose Bowl and trying to talk to my wife I learned that 6.5 mph is a bit more than a conversational run for me. I must be a bit out of shape. 

Noon: Went to Boot Camp. I didn't push it incredibly hard and skipped the abs workout at the end as I was done. A bit too much in a 22 hour period, but a great way to start off the new year. 

4 TM miles at they Y this morning. Broken record. Watched a cool show on Modern Marvels about new types of aircraft. The US Military uses remote control toy planes to check on our enemies. These planes have foldable wings to fit into a regular backpack, and their cameras are HD with thermal imaging. Very cool. I want one for elk hunting.

Started at 5.0, then 6.0, 6.5, and 1 mile at 7.0. Achilles feels good.

A couple of friends just decided to do the Bighorn 50K so I'm going to join them. The training last year really gave me a good base for a fall marathon so I'm looking forward to it. Plus, after reading Crockett's blog it sounds like if you don't say "I'll never do this again" after an ultra you probably didn't push yourself enough. :)

Started feeling crappy Friday night so skipped my long run Saturday and layed around all weekend then slept in today till 10 am & stayed home from work. Still feel rough at 7:30 pm. Ugh. Wish I knew what I had. No fever just general malaise. Legs feel like 100 lbs.

Wahoo! Back to running. Felt better on Wednesday night so went to work Thursday finally. Took it easy that day as I wasn't sure how my body was. Ran today at lunch and felt great. Started at 5.0 to gauge my body, and no problems so up to 6.0 for a while and I got a big side ache, probably from hot chocolate I drank too late in the morning. Had to walk (and belch) a bit and then was able to run with no problems. Did a mini progression run the last mile, ending with the last 0.2 at 8.3 mph. Felt really good. Hoping for 6-8 tomorrow. Nothing too strenuous.

Noon: 6 TM miles in my basement with a fire in the wood burning stove. Thankfully the TM has a built in fan or I would have melted. I kept it pretty slow, starting at a 5.0 mph then at a 6.0 until 4 miles. Bumped to 6.5 for mile 5, then 7.0 for the last mile. Good run. Listening to an interesting book right now.

2:00: 4 miles outside in the snow. 13 degrees ambient temp; -2 with the wind chill. Wore lotsa layers and I was warm enough. For my sake, I wore calf compression socks, long johns, tights, and wind-proof pants on bottom plus normal socks with thick winter socks on top (shoes too big - perfect for winter). On top wore a short sleeve tech shirt, thick long sleeve zip neck tech shirt, thin long sleeve zip neck tech shirt, fleece vest, running jacket. Neck gaiter, thin hat, and ear warming headband. Thin gloves inside thin windproof mittens. I was a bit warm with no wind but with the wind it was perfect.

4 TM miles at the Y this morning. 5.0 for 1/2 mile, 6.0 for 1 1/2, 6.5 for 1, 7.0 for 3/4, 7.5 for 1/4. Felt good, no pain.

Yesterday walking down stairs my left achilles winked at me. Hmph. I thought it was over. Guess I need some more eccentric heel drops. 

5 TM miles at lunchtime at the Y. Very windy today, and it's starting to warm up so the snow is getting to the gooey stage. Not warm enough for slush, but not running weather. Very crowded at the Y. Glad I snagged a TM. Lots of sad people today.

Did a progression run, which is what I always tend to do on a TM as I just want to finish. Is there anything wrong with continual TM progression runs? Outside I tend to keep a pace pretty steady, so I'm not worried. Just wondered if the experts out there who happen to peruse my blog had an opinion. Started at 5.0 for 1/2 mile, then 6.0 for 1 1/2, 6.5 for 1, 7.0 for 1, 7.5 for 3/4 then up to 10.0 for the last 1/4. Felt great. Kept my body low and slow and just let my feet glide across the ground. Wish it were that easy to run 6:00 pace outside. 

Noon Boot Camp at the Y. Kicked my butt as I overdid it a bit. I used to go regularly and was in better shape with things other than running (abs, upper body, etc.) but I haven't been doing anything except run for a long time. So when I go I expect that I can do a lot more than I can. I'm stupid. Nice to do something besides just run, though. Need to start doing my pushups and planks again.

4 TM miles at the Y. Progression from 5.0 warmup for 0.5 to 6.0 for 1.5, 6.5 for 1, 7.0 for 1. Felt good.

4 TM miles, 4 outside. Didn't have time to do 6 outside like I wanted. No watch, but I was moving like I haven't for a while. Felt great.

4 TM miles this morning at home. It was my first time running early on the TM at home while the kids were asleep. I started about 6:15 am and heard no complaints after we woke them at 7, so I call that a success. It helps that we're all noise sleepers. We all need some kind of white noise to sleep peacefully: fan, white noise app on iPod, humidifier, etc. My wife comes from a long line of white noise sleepers. When her family goes anywhere, they bring along a collection of fans. One sister in law brings her 30" square box fan every where she goes. It's hilarious. 

Score one for white noise. My early morning TM run was a success. 

4 mile TM progression run, ending at 8.0 for the last quarter mile. Felt pretty tired when I woke up which is odd as I've gotten good sleep the last two nights and haven't run that much. Must be the white noise.

Ran about 1/2 mile before Boot Camp at Noon. The class is always brutal if I listen to the hard-core instructor, and today I listened pretty well. Feel a little beat up, but in a good way.

Rest day yesterday, did 4 on the TM at home this morning. Progression run from walking 4.0 to 8.5 mph for the last quarter mile.

Scout campout tonight & tomorrow, so will likely miss my Saturday long run. Hoping I can get someone to cover my duties for a couple hours, but we'll see.

Only a couple patrols came through my Klondike GPS station, so finally at 2 PM I got out on the road for a run. Needed to be back around 3 so didn't give me much time. Ran 3.5 miles down the same dirt road I ran on a couple years ago at the Klondike, with similar weather. 40s or so, which meant partially muddy roads in spots where the snow was melting. Tough to figure out where to run on a muddy road. Follow the tire tracks? The gravel on the side? The snow without slush? Such tough decisions. Good run, but I am so out of shape. Lots of hills on this one and my short time frame meant I pushed the pace and my legs and lungs were not enjoying it. Ran an 8ish pace quite a bit and that was exciting. Garsh I have a long way to go.

After running 7 on the roads I ran out on the lake as I needed to recover the clues I'd stashed earlier this morning. Not exactly sure of the mileage, but I think it's about 1.5. 

AP: 8:51 

4 miles in an inch of fresh snow. Very delightful. Need to run outdoors most of the time to get my legs back. Treadmill isn't cutting it - need my hill training.

Slacker. Shut off the alarm this morning, planned to run at lunch but didn't. Maybe today is a rest day. Again. Maybe I'll run at home on the TM tonight. Or not. It's all good.

Just looked at my running stats as it's been a while, and I haven't hit 100 miles in a month since September. No wonder I feel like my fitness isn't where it used to be! I had no clue that it has been 4+ months since I really ran. I'm kind of biding my time until the 50K training plan starts up, but I probably need to do more than that. It would be good to be in the 30 mpw category before hitting 50 mpw regularly. I'll get there. Just kind of tired of winter running, and I've hardly done much. Last year I did a lot of it and it seems like I was always getting sick after running more than an hour outdoors. Not sure how everybody else does it. Better clothes? Vitamins? General toughness? Probably the latter. 

Did a double workout of sorts today. Woke up and did 4 on the treadmill before work. At lunch I went to the gym and did 8 minutes on the stair stepper, then decided to hit Boot Camp. I did Boot Camp for 30 minutes then had to leave for a 1 PM meeting. I feel pretty tired, which is good. I think I might use the stair stepper a bit more to help me get back into hill work as I'll need plenty of that for the 50K. Lots of ups and downs.

Great treadmill session this morning at home. Bam kicked my butt through just a few lines, and point well taken. I need to up my game, and it needs to start now. I've been coasting for a long while now and it's making an impact on my fitness.

Did a nice progression run while watching the Batman with Heath Ledger. With the volume muted and closed caption on I missed some of the great intonations by the Joker but still a fantastic performance and worth watching again. I haven't seen it since the theater. I'll continue it tomorrow.

Started my run by walking at 4.0, then 5.0, then 6.0 until 2 miles; 6.5 for a mile; 7.0 for one; 7.5 for one; 8.0 for my final. Felt great. Starting to be sore from Boot Camp yesterday, but that's what I like. 

Started off the short month with a bang. Or at least a small whimper. 5 TM progression miles at home this morning. Watched more of The Dark Knight. What a great movie. 

4.0, 5.0 for 1/2; 6.0 for 1.5; 6.5 for 2; 7.0 for 1/2; 7.5 to finish. Weather's a lot warmer tomorrow, hoping for 10 outside.

7 miles this morning as I woke up without an alarm clock, but had to leave by 9:30 for our daughter's basketball game. Wanted to do 10 but no time. Maybe later but it's 4:30 pm now and I'm feeling tired so probably not. Ran up towards my Veyo hill and made it 3/4 of the way up before hitting 3.5 miles, so I turned around for home. Made it to the game and she made her first basket of the year! Wahoo.

AP: 9:01 

Couldn't wake myself up with the alarm, then had a meeting pop up over the lunch hour. After dinner, family night, and ice cream, I hopped on the TM for 1-3 miles at 8:30 pm. The side ache started around 1/2 mile, so I would walk a bit then bump back up to 6.0, then drop down to 4.0 to walk. I realized that I did it wrong. Ice cream is for AFTER running. Oops. I was just glad to get my feet moving. When I hit 2 miles and the side ache wasn't gone I stopped.

After failing to rouse myself yesterday I was motivated to wake up at my running time. Woke up, took care of business, and out the door 30 minutes later. Why in the world does it take me 30 minutes? 15 minutes of "taking care of business" then 15 minutes to dress? I putz around way too much. Decided to do my 6 mile route anyhow, even though I'd be a bit late back to the house for our 7 am scripture reading around the breakfast table. It worked. 

34 degrees out with not much breeze. I had on a short sleeve tech shirt, long sleeve 3/4 zip thicker top and a jacket. Turns out it was too much, although at least I wasn't cold. When I got back the sleeves of the 3/4 zip were dark with sweat. Part hard effort, part too many clothes. Could've gotten by with a long sleeve tech shirt. 

Headed out and after my first mile settled into a nice pace. Pushed it to get back to the house at a decent time, and on the way back pushed it pretty well. Felt good. I left my compression socks at work and I could feel my right shin giving a bit of a niggle. Interesting. I believe in my compression socks. I'm sure they correct my poor form. Overall, liked the run. Longer than I've done on a morning run in a while, and I'm looking forward to getting back to these 6+ morning runs. I need them.

AP: 8:28 

I went to sleep early last night but woke up exhausted. Nearly stayed in bed as I could not get my brain working. Finally inched my way out and got ready for a treadmill run as I figured the roads would be too muddy. Turns out they froze overnight so I could've run outside, but no worries. Hopped on the treadmill for 3, and felt okay, so when I hit 3 I went one more mile.

My right outer medial calf muscle is in pain. According to an anatomy chart it might be my extensor digitorum longus. It's where I get shin splints, and I aggravated it yesterday pretty well. Yesterday morning I popped a bunch of Ibuprofen to get rid of the pain and last night I had to pop more to go to sleep as just lying down was a dull ache in that muscle. I took a few more before work and it feels okay, but I could definitely feel it walking to work. Too fast too soon. Oops.

3 quick miles outside today before making breakfast in bed for my 7 year old daughter. It's a family tradition.

The shin splint/outer calf muscle felt fine during the run. I felt it on the walk from my car to work (1/4 mile) and now I'm wearing my compression sleeve and it feels fine sitting down. I'll just take it easy for a while. 

My Saturday is full, so I got up early and did 10 miles this morning, in honor of Sherry Arnold, the runner in Montana who was abducted and killed last January while jogging. Tomorrow is the 2nd Annual Run for Sherry. You can print your bib here: http://www.races2remember.com/PrintBib.php?bib=sherry. 

I'm surprised at how good I felt during this run. I got to bed an hour + earlier than normal so that must have helped, but today's route was up my "Veyo" hill and it's brutal. And I did it in the dark with a headlamp. I tell you what, running a long and steady uphill with only a headlamp is a mental challenge. I've run this hill quite a bit so I know the parts where if I can just get to a certain point then I know I can make it all the way. This morning I couldn't see those markers, so I just had to keep plugging along. It's a climb from 2.25 miles all the way to 4.25 miles, and in the middle is a and steep section. I love it as a challenge and as a hill that helps me in a race, and I know it helps in major ways.

Anyhow, enjoyed the run thoroughly and hope I don't crash during my day job. :)

AP: 8:41 

Very full day today, but did manage to wake up early enough for 1.5 miles on the TM before heading to the church to teach Scouts about how to be a citizen in our fair world. Our stake puts on a merit badge day every year and opens it to boys of all faiths from all over the Billings area, and we had about 300 or so Scouts there to earn a couple merit badges (even some from an hour away). Great day, and turned out to be some fun discussions. Amazing how smart and knowledgeable some teenagers are.

Calves are a bit sore from yesterday's run. Love it. 

5 miles outside; 20 degrees with a breeze, 7 F wind chill. I was prepared. Good run, calves a bit sore, especially my left gimpy achilles calf. My right gimpy shin splint calf has behaved the past few days. 

Yesterday morning I woke up early to run, took care of business, then decided my eyelids were not behaving, so I should listen to my body. I got another hour of sleep and was grateful. Then had a stupid meeting bleed into the lunch hour and I had way too much to get finished so I had to skip my planned lunch run. Rats.

This is a very busy week at work for me so I was happy for the early run.

AP: 8:36 

Got up early to get in a few miles before a literal all day meeting (If 7 am to 8 pm can be considered all day. I think it can.). I've been part of a massive strategic initiative project and today was the day to present the project recommendations to our 120 most senior leaders. I was a bit nervous about it, so it was nice/required to burn through some nervous energy on the treadmill.

The meeting went fine, and the presentation scored points with the right people, and the catered breakfast, lunch, and dinner was excellent. I think I gained 5 pounds. I'm looking forward to my planned 20 mile runs here in a few months so I can lose my winter fat. 

My big meetings this week are now over, and today is a no school day for my kids and my wife, so I got to run as far as I wanted without having to be back for breakfast and scripture study. It allowed me to sleep in a bit more then I would have, which was nice. Outside we had 2 inches of fresh snow and 25 degree temps with a 10 mph breeze, so a bit chilly but not too bad. I sure do love my neck gaiter which is new this year. Takes off the cold from my chin and it's amazing how much that mentally helps. 

Left my watch at home so no idea of times. It was nice to just run. 

10 beautiful miles this morning on my 10 mile loop. I haven't done this one in a few months and it felt great to do it. It's mostly downhill the first 3.5 miles, then up, up, up. I didn't stop at any time, and that excites me. A few weeks ago I really questioned my fitness so I bumped up my running and it's paying off. Still have a ways to go, but I'm on the right road to improve my 50K race. Forgot my watch, which was probably a great thing.

6 TM miles at Noon at the YMCA, in between two other guys who ran about the same distance. we ran stride for stride for about 50 minutes. That was interesting, and kind of fun. 

Did a progression run, started at 5.0 for a little bit, then 6.0, 6.5 for 2 1/2 miles, then 7.0, 7.5, 8.0, and ended at 10.0 for just a short little burst. Felt great. Ran at 2 % incline the first 4 miles. Did 7.5 at 5% incline for 1/2 mile. That was tough. Dropped incline to .5% and speed to 6.0 for a quarter mile after that to slow down my breathing.

Cold this morning, 14 degrees. No breeze but it was a facemask-over-the-nose sort of morning. I tested out my new 1/2 zip pullover loft jacket and it was pretty darn nice. A bit too warm in the arms (they were drenched afterwards) but my mid section was comfortable, and it has a butt warmer which was very nice in the end (buh dum dum). 

Did 5 miles at whatever effort made sense. After yesterday's workout I drained the tank a bit but not all the way. A good run. Got a nice effort up a hill at the turnaround point.

AP: 9:04 

4 down & up miles this morning. I just went to the eye doctor & had my eyes dilated so I can't read what I'm typing. If there are typos or something doesn't make sense, I ll fix it when I can see. 

So the other day I was thinking about my hill running, and my desire to do well with the 50K, and it dawned on me that the road I live on is a steep hill, but I never run it. Decided to run it today and it will become used more often. It's only a mile & a half to the bottom of the road, so I ran another 1/2 mile to make it a solid 4 on the turn around. Great paces down the hill, and nice and steady back up. It's at least 400 feet of climb in 1.5 miles with 3 solid stretches of up. I will make this part of my routine. Would be nice to end some long runs with this brutal uphill at the end.

AP: 9:01 

Planned rest day. I was thinking about getting up and doing 3 miles as a rest, but decided to sleep another 45 minutes. It felt good.

I know that running is back as a passion because I was driving home last night, up a pretty good hill, and I couldn't wait to get back running that hill. It's been a while since I ran really long. I'm looking forward to it. 

6 miles this morning in a steady brisk wind. 24 F temps, 17 mph wind, 11 degree wind chill. My hands got cold but the rest of me was okay. I need some new gloves with wind shields on the top and breathable on bottom. I just don't want to spend $30-40 on a pair, so I make do with a pair of cotton running gloves I got at SGM 2011 combined with a pair of thicker cotton gloves I bought at Harbor Freight. They work well on nearly every day.

Didn't feel completely fresh today, but not too tired either. Tomorrow's a busy day with the first kid bball game at 8 am so I'm not sure when I'll get my run in, but I'll do it. Might be a treadmill run in the morning. Happy to have hit the 20 mile mark on Friday. I think it's been a while.

AP: 8:42

12 TM miles at the end of a crazy day. Would have run them outside in the dark & wanted to, but would rather spend the time with my kids watching movies. Saw "Here Comes The Boom" and it's a surprisingly good show! Very funny, great action, & Selma Hayek is easy on the eyes. It ended with a tough 3 miles to go so we started Nacho Libre. Almost identical plot, chubby athletic funny front man, hot Latina he's trying to seduce. Fun shows.

The last 3 miles were mentally very tough, so I imagined myself 3 miles from home & ran my normal route back. Worked okay.

6.6 mph, 2% incline for just about all of the 12 miles. Good long run for now, good week for me.

5 miles this morning outside. 27 F with 13 mph, so 16 F wind chill. Not too bad really, but def needed the neck gaiter. Felt pretty good and loose. No idea of time as my Garmin's been doing weird things lately after I charge it. Batter was almost dead but I charged it a few days ago. What's up Garmin?

6 miles outside early this morning. 32 with 16 mph wind. What's up with the wind? I mean, seriously. It actually wasn't too bad, but is annoying. Decided to do 6 because I did 5 yesterday and I'd woken up early so I had some extra time.

AP: 8:36

Woke up early due to a morning meeting, and had some extra time so I ran an extra mile. Steady wind of about 15 mph at 30 degrees, chin/neck gaiter still needed into the wind. Looking forward to warmer temps this weekend.

Legs don't feel totally fresh, and they shouldn't as I'm increasing my mileage, but they don't feel rough either. On the return I was able to comfortably hit the high 7s in some spots but didn't push it.

AP: 8:34

Just noticed that I crossed the 100 mile mark for February, so I'm back at my arbitrary monthly minimum. I'd hit it very consistently except for injury months, but slacked off after my fall marathon. Glad to be back on the side of motivation. Also just hit 200 miles for the year, so life is looking up. At this rate I'll hit 1200 miles...and hopefully a whole lot more than that. 1500 would be nice.

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

AP: 8:34

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

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

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

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

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

AP: 8:52

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

AP: 8:38

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

AP 8:56

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

AP: 8:56

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

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

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

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

AP: 9:09.

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

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

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

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

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

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

AP: 8:52

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

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

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

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

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

AP: 8:58

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

AP: 8:58

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

AP: 9:16 

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

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

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

AP: 8:35

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

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

AP: 8:12 

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

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

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

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

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

Drove home 8 hours yesterday, so I decided to sleep in yesterday morning so I would be fully awake for the drive. Good call. This morning I was still a bit tired so decided to do 4 miles instead of longer. Again good call. Got a bit of a late start so picked up the pace on the way back. For my normal runs from home I head uphill on the out, so the back is always faster. It works out quite well. My legs felt very stretched on the two miles back home today, so I'll keep getting in some faster paces when able.

Paces: 9:23, 8:30, 7:16, 6:56. AP: 8:01

Very tired last night, got to bed late even though I was trying to best to hit the sack. Planned to do 4 this morning but I was not feeling it when the alarm went off so I listened to my body and kept sleeping. I knew I was going to Boot Camp at Noon.

Noon: Went to Boot Camp. Wow, was it a good workout. Great leg exercises, some upper body, good cardio. My headband was soaked. My mileage plan is picking up in the next couple weeks so I'll drop to 1 BC a week and then probably none. Not sure my old body can handle a rough double plus 40-50 mpw. No miles to record, but it should be 6+ as it was over 50 minutes of working out and the headband sweat was like a tempo 6+. That's my best indicator.

6 miles this fine morning. Arms were sweating like crazy as I had overdressed for 37F. Spring running is tough to know how to dress. Good run. Legs a bit tired from Boot Camp, will be more sore tomorrow.

AP: 8:42

6 more difficult miles this morning. I normally go up the hill so that my out is slow and steady and my return is downhill and fast. I need to switch it up more as going downhill first then working my way back home is definitely more challenging. 43F outside, so much nicer. Still dressed too warmly so bring on 50s and I'll know what to do.

AP: 8:36

12 tough miles. It was nice to run in the light, and the weather was favorable. Did my 10 mile loop, but decided to add on the 2 miles before the loop instead of at the end. I headed up the road on my normal route & my legs were moving, like 30-45 seconds per mile faster than my normal first mile. Weird. I let them go & kept a strong pace for the first couple miles, then I remembered I had 10 more to go and the beginning was no time for a tempo run. I backed off, but the next few were really tough for some reason, even though mostly downhill. I nearly stopped to walk a bit but didn't, hoping my legs would come back. They eventually did. I hit the bottom of the hill and the challenge of getting back up the 400 or so feet got my fire burning and I kept going all the way home. The mileage is beginning! My long runs will now start growing back to big numbers. Looking forward to it.

Paces: 9:04, 8:18, 7:50, 7:56, 7:56, 8:06, 8:57, 9:34, 9:22, 9:19, 8:37, 8:03. AP: 8:35

4 miles in a couple inches of crunchy, frozen snow. 22F with wind chill of 11F. No wonder it felt so cold! I thought it was a bit warmer than that when I headed out. Wasn't bad, actually, but much different than Saturday's shirt sleeves weather. Followed my legs, and the pace was fairly pedestrian. Wore my Salomon's again as I added another layer of insoles and that seemed to make the difference. They're too wide for my feet so I've got a nice blister on my right foot, but I didn't feel the blister grow today. Will try the same combination on longer runs this week as I'm planning on wearing these shoes on the 50K.

AP: 8:46

It snowed all day yesterday, with a high of 21F, so I woke up this morning to 17F and a couple inches of snow, so I crawled back in bed. It was nice and warm. Hit the Y at lunch and ran 4 miles on the TM. 2% incline, progression from 6 mph for 0.5, to 6.7 for 0.5, then 7.3 for 1, 7.7 for 1, and ended at 8.1 for the last mile. Amazing how much sweat came from 4 miles. 5 minute cool down.

6 morning miles at 15F with no wind. Not too bad, really, and without wind I was sweatin' like a horse. Amazing that I could be that soaked in those temps and I wasn't wearing any thick layers. My legs felt okay but not great, which makes sense after a decent run 18 hours earlier. I wore the Salomons again and I'm done with that shoe. Over 3,000 miles in Brooks without a single blister, and after 60 miles in the Salomons I have two solid blisters on my right foot, and started a new blister this morning on my left foot. Experiment over.

The 50K training plan is ramping up, so Friday I'll do 8 and Saturday 14, then bigger & better the week after & beyond. I'm looking forward to San Antonio in a few weeks. I could do with some heat work.

AP: 8:39

Noon: Boot Camp. Good workout. I wasn't as tired as I thought I'd be from already having run 6. I'm sure I'll be plenty sore by Friday. Love it.

8 miles this morning. That darn wind. Only 35F but felt like 25 or colder. That being said, I am happy about the wind as I live on a dirt road and the wind dries it out like nothing else. That's nice. Driving around with a muddy truck is also nice as I feel much cooler than I deserve to feel.

I took this run at a steady pace. Legs a bit tired from Wednesday's Boot Camp + 6 mile double, but nothing too crazy. On the turnaround once I hit mile 5 I turned it up a bit, and at mile 6 I did a marathon pace mile. I need to keep doing that to get my body familiar with a 3:15:00 pace. I need to wear my HRM a few times as well to see how my body tolerates that pace. I felt pretty good, but can't comprehend running that pace for 26.2. I also thought how I'll build a Des News pace calculator using allie's and others DN times per each mile. I can then get a differential to expect and can then plug in my desired time and get rough paces per each mile. I want to be sure to use the hills to my advantage and not my detriment.

Yesterday read an interesting article about physiological limitations of endurance exercise capacity. I think it's a few years old, but a good read. A bit techy, but I could understand most of it. It gave me a clue to why my HR increases so much at the end of marathons and I start to feel dizzy - dehydration. I fit all the classic symptoms of dehydration. I will work on that. I realize that I've never increased my fluid intake as the air temperature has increased, and that makes a lot of sense to do. As it gets warmer I sweat more so I need more replacement. Not sure it's that simple, but something for me to ponder.

Paces: 9:26, 8:48, 8:57, 8:40, 9:53 (took off jacket), 7:39, 7:22, 8:01. AP: 8:36

14 miles before the storm rolled in. I felt really good during this run, and it kinds freaks me out. I ran this same route 1 month ago and it was a tough one. I ran 8 miles yesterday with 2 MP miles in there, and got in a few more MP miles today at the end of the run. It was tough, but controlled. No wind when I left, and a steady NE wind on the way back. Headwind for part of the route, more sideways the last couple miles. I was dressed just about right.

AP: 8:09 http://connect.garmin.com/activity/297367737  

Split	Time	Moving Time	Elevation Gain	Elevation Loss
1	08:38.2	8:38	101	0
2	08:22.6	8:14	125	0
3	08:14.0	8:12	48	84
4	09:06.0	9:05	264	0
5	08:33.9	8:28	70	0
6	09:19.1	9:18	80	66
7	08:09.3	8:03	86	0
8	08:06.8	7:58	0	76
9	08:08.2	8:06	70	60
10	07:47.2	7:41	0	52
11	07:04.9	7:04	0	293
12	07:55.7	7:55	98	85
13	07:21.7	7:19	0	60
14	07:10.8	7:08	0	129
Summary	1:53:58.4	1:53:09.0	943	904

Broke 500 miles in my Brooks trail shoes. As they've almost exclusively been used on soft surfaces I think they'll last much longer than 500. I guess time will tell.

Cold weather is back in Billings as it was 16 degrees for this morning's run. No wind, so didn't feel too cold. My calves are a bit sore from Saturday's effort but not bad at all, just a bit tight today. A nice controlled short run. Will hit Boot Camp at Noon.

AP: 8:19

Noon: Boot Camp. She kicked our butts. In the beginning I was thinking "I'm crazy! I just did a solid 14 a couple days ago, not fully recovered, did 4 this morning, and now this? Leave early." At the end I was envisioning "3:14:51" in my head as I cross the finish line. I wanted to give myself a few seconds of leeway. It was a killer, headband-dripping-sweat workout. I need one of these a week to give me that BQ edge.

23F with a skiff of snow and a slight breeze this morning. A beautiful spring morning. It felt about the right temperature for whomever was responsible for the marathon bombs yesterday. Let's find them, strip them down to their skivvies, and leave them tied to the stocks in this temperature. There are plenty of coyotes in my neighborhood who would love to help usher them out of this world. I won't write too much about this tragedy as I believe the best way to honor those who have lost their lives is to continue on with my life, with a heightened sense of the nothingness of man, an appreciation for the bounties of life I enjoy, for gratefulness for all that God has created, and a deep and sincere prayer for peace to all of those affected.

My body is feeling the effects of a good Boot Camp. We did lots of deep knee bends, wall sits, and other leg & butt-busting exercises. Good stuff. I took it nice and easy this morning and this run was all about "don't stop running". I really wanted to a few times, but knew it wouldn't be an amazing challenge to just keep going. And I did. Very small victory, but I'll take it.

AP: 8:37

8 miles up Keller Road. The cold spell continues as it was 19F this morning, but with fog so no wind. Interesting running in fog. Even though it wasn't all that cold my eyelids kept sticking shut, I guess with all the humidity of being in a cloud. That was cool. Legs felt a bit better this morning, althoug 2nd day soreness abounds. Kept the pace slowish but steady and ran MP on the last two miles. Prayers for Boston. Frequently.

AP: 8:25

10 killer miles for my 40th birthday plus 40 push-ups. Ran up my Veyo hill and maintained strong pace on the way back. Heading out of town for a weekend getaway with my wife now, hoping for a 12 miler tomorrow.

AP: 8:06

Staying in Bozeman for the weekend. Got a nice little run in this morning before breakfast. Glad I didn't try for more than that. Tired legs, now heading to Yellowstone for the day.

AP: 8:37

4 miles this cold snowy morning. It's a lovely winter day only 9 days before May. Sigh. 24F but felt like 11F with wind chill. Downright balmy. I overdressed as I didn't want to be chilled, and that made me feel a bit more sluggish than normal. It was nice running on crunchy snow as it provided lots of traction. No idea on pace.

Noon: Went to my weekly Boot Camp session. Partly I was not feeling it today, partly we worked on upper body (shoulders, arms, etc) and my upper body is weak. But during abs I couldn't do it all either. I think residual tiredness from a long fun weekend.

6 brisk miles this winter morning. 21F, 7F with wind chill. This should be the last of winter weather for the year (hopefully). I felt pretty good this morning and didn't push the pace, but was still holding it nice and steady. The wind was from the side and on the way back my rear end became quite icy. A lovely feeling. Per my morning ritual (although I don't write about it) did 25 pushups while waiting for the shower to warm up. It's only 25 a day but amazing what  difference it makes for my core and the other affected upper body muscles.

AP: 8:13

6  miles. Snowed a skiff again this morning. A bit warmer but still windy and cold. Kept it steady today but legs were a bit tired. Looking forward to a break tomorrow, 10 on Friday, 18 on Saturday. Haven't done more than 14 since the last marathon.

AP: 8:27 

I think Spring may have actually sprung for good. This morning was clear and 48F. It was 13 mph wind so felt a bit chilly, but only wore tights & a long sleeve tech shirt with gloves. So lovely. I ran up my Veyo hill and back, my normal Friday route now (and lots of Saturdays too). I kept it slower than previous times as I want to get in a good effort tomorrow doing 18. My legs didn't feel great, but not bad. I didn't get great sleep last night so I'll attribute it to that. Overall, a good effort. I didn't feel strong up the hills but I didn't have to go to my happy place either so that's a success. Heading to Great Falls, MT today for a long weekend of Boy Scout meetings (the Montana Council annual meeting). I look forward to doing 18 on their river trail system. I wish I could do the run on dirt trails, but running next to a river is a really close second.

AP: 8:40

18 long  miles in Great Falls starting at 4:30  this morning. Good run before meetings.

I woke up at 4 as I budgeted 3  hours for the run and my first meeting started at 7:50. I  figured that would give me time to shower and eat and I  was pretty close.  Winds  predicted for 30 mph this morning but thankfully I missed most of it. Used the headlamp the first hour then didn't need it. I was trying to find the paved path by the river but thankfully stumbled onto a perfect country road I stayed on the entire time. Fewer than 10  cars passed me.  Legs finally felt good after 6 miles and I cruised along until 13 after

  which it was a bit of a struggle. The wind was at my back on the return which helped.  I  kept a  decent  pace the last few but not marathon worthy by any stretch. A  good first long run in a while.

AP: 8:56

 Got up early this morning &  flew to San Antonio. Got in about Noon and after unpacking headed out on a run. Had scoped out the map and saw a nice park to run to but never made it that far. It was not very runner friendly. I think my other runs this week will be on the treadmill.  If I had a car it would be a different story.  it is beautiful weather her though.  Got a sunburn at the pool. Awesome.

6  sweaty treadmill miles at the Marriott this morning. Last mile at 7:30. 2%  incline the entire time.

8 miles this morning around the river walk path in San Antonio.  Gorgeous. Hot though, 71F with high humidity. My shirt was drenched at the end. I would've been more dry running through sprinklers. Effort was solid. Running on the flat gives me new appreciation for the flatlanders. In the hills I 

can run a hard effort up but then rest on the way back. On the flat there's no rest. Did I mention the heat?  Mad props for those running in this junk all the time.  I'd rather run in sub zero temps.  Can't recall my AP. 8:30 I think.  Good run. Now time to sit on my rear all day and learn new ways to do my job. Hopefully get some pool time later.

Accidentally logged Friday's workout on Thursday, my rest (and travel) day.

10 miles this fine morning. 48 degrees sounded pretty nice, so I wore shorts, a short sleeve tech shirt, and thin gloves. Shoulda worn a long sleeve shirt. My arms were still cold for a while afterwards. Slight breeze while heading South, so cold on the way out, nice on the way back. My legs were pretty dead after traveling yesterday. I kept decent paces but nothing special. On the way back I picked it up just before mile 3 and finished with 3 sub MP miles. Last 3 were 7:21, 7:16, 7:06. Total time 1:21:xx. AP: 8:10. 20 miles tomorrow. The ramp up is here.

20 long miles this morning. I'm still pretty tired from traveling (early flights, etc.) so I slept until 6:45 and left the house by 7:30, both really late for me. It worked out fine. Temps were perfect, 45F and overcast skies with hardly a wind. Shorts, long-sleeve shirt, and gloves weather. More wind would've meant a hat but no wind today, which was fantastic. Headed up my normal Saturday set of hills. My body was definitely tired from the week and yesterday's 3 fast miles, so I took it slower than I have been, but I woke up at mile 3.5 which is in the middle of my hill. I like the challenge of hills. They make me happy. The plan today was to do 15 miles then go home and meet my wife as she wanted to do 5 with me on a route she's never done. I was feeling pretty rough by 15 but after taking a 10 minute break at home I felt refreshed. Changed my shoes, shirt, gloves, bandanna, and replaced my Nathan backpack for a water belt. We ran slowly down the hill from our house, which is 1.5 miles, then Kaylene had to head back home so we parted ways. I ran up a killer hill I've only done a couple times before. It is a brutal 600 foot climb over 1.25 miles that has a solid mile with zero flat spots. It was a great workout, especially after 16 miles. The rest of the way home is pretty tough on this route, which is why I don't normally do it, but it felt good to be hurting a bit after a long morning of running. Good training.

AP: 8:56. Good run.  

4 miles this morning as my training plan calls for 4 every Monday. I'm totally okay with that. Perfect weather. No watch, solid effort.

My weekend was a bit of a disaster on the home front. After traveling home from Texas on Thursday via an early-morning flight I ran 10 on Friday then 20 on Saturday. I was beat. Exhausted. Knackered. We didn't have many plans on Saturday so I did very little. Caught a short nap but not much. Sunday I got up at 7:30 and got the kids ready and we did our 3 hours of church and I was beat. Didn't help that it was Fast Sunday and I decided to fast. Probably shouldn't have after doing 20, but I felt up to the challenge. I was not in a horrible mood but not chipper either. After dinner I slept for an hour or so, and as we had nothing going on I vegetated the rest of the day then was asleep before 10:30. Not a positive day for a wife who isn't 100% supportive of my running habit, especially when I'm a slug because of a long run. Thankfully this week is a step-back week, and hopefully this big mileage weekend built up immunities so my future big weekends won't have as much of an impact on my body. This morning I feel great.

Noon: Boot Camp. I thought it would royally kick my butt after the long weekend, but I guess I rested enough as I felt pretty darn good. The exercises suited me also, as we ran in between each set of exercises. At the very end I had 15 seconds to sprint around the 1/17th mile indoor track, and I was pretty tired but the thought popped in my brain "BQ finish" and I sprinted the last 75 yards or so, finishing strong. I may have looked a fool rounding those sharp corners but I felt fantastic. 3:14:59....

8 miles in my new Brooks ASR 9 trail shoes. A good run, another banner morning. I love these cloudless mornings with the Eastern sky filling with reddish orange light until the sun breaks through to crown the day. Gorgeous. My legs felt quite sluggish from Boot Camp yesterday, but about mile 4 they started to wake up so the return trip went much quicker. Yes, it's down hill, but the legs were moving. Last 3 miles 7:14, 7:09, 7:14. I need to mix in more BQ tempo miles on my Saturday long runs, and now that I've got a couple 18+ under my belt I think I can do that. Only 10 this weekend, but next weeks are 22, 22, 24, so those should be perfect for getting in 8-10 miles of solid BQ miles.

I'm stoked about my shoes. I bought the Salomons wanting a stiffer trail shoe than the Brooks, but they didn't fit me right and gave me blisters with the second run. I called their customer service line and they had me send in pictures of my foot and the shoes and they warranteed them. I forwarded that e-mail to my local shoe store and they had me bring them back in and gave me credit for the shoes. I got the Brooks plus some sweet merino wool socks. I wore them both today and they felt great. Yeeha. I didn't want to waste $120 on shoes I can't wear and I'm glad I was taken care of.

AP: 8:07

6 miles on very sore legs, so I'll take it. No fast paces today but slow & steady wins the race. Or so I've been led to believe. It's unbelievable how sore my calves are from 2 minutes of calf raises on Monday. We did 1 set of normal raises + pulsing, 1 set of toes in + pulsing, 1 set of toes out + pulsing. And I don't recall the last time my calves felt this way. Glad I have my Bam-proof calf sleeves or I'd really be hurting.

AP: 8:32

8 miles this fine morning. It was a tough run. Not sure exactly why my legs are so tired after a step-back week and taking a day off yesterday, but I guess it all points to my Monday Boot Camp workout. Weird that it's still affecting me on Friday but that's my best guess.

Today I decided to go up my Veyo hill as I'll take a different route tomorrow. It was tough to do it. I really wanted to walk but knew I couldn't let myself walk so I just kept going. Slowly made it up the hill (not as slow as my mind thought I was going but slower than I should be running for a step back week after a day of rest) and chugged to 4 miles + then turned around. Got the pace up going downhill, of course, then kept it up fairly solidly. 3/4 of a mile later I hit a short nasty hill and I was worried it would do me in but I actually felt pretty good going up it and fought until the top. Just past the top is my 2 miles to go mark, and I determined to go with some MP miles. Hit mile 7 in 7:24 and mile 8 in 7:01. Happy with that.

AP: 8:11

 Found a new place to run today and I don't know why I've never been here  before. A great trail that's  right near downtown.  I only had 1:30 to  run ten and pick up my son from a birthday party and this turned out  perfect.  Had some good paces in the middle and last two miles sub 7s  so very happy. Also  this was a 3  pm run on a warm day so good heat training.

Paces: 8:27, 9:46 (pee break), 9:14 (uphill), 10:09 (tightened shoes), 8:15 8:03 7:44 8:14 6:49 6:44. AP 8:20 Total time 1:23:24

4 miles to start off a 50 mile week. Here's to hoping that everything goes well this week as my next 3 weeks have my long runs at 22, 22, 24 before a step back week then the 50K the following week. I'm not excited. Not at all.

AP: 8:23

Noon: Boot Camp. Sweatfest 2013, even in my St George Running Center singlet. I tried not to go too crazy hard as this will be a big mileage week, but the competitive juices get going when getting yelled at. Good workout.

Happy 12th birthday to my second son! I'm taking a half day as he wants to go to the shooting range to shoot his new .22 rifle. Should be a fun time. He passed Hunter's Safety and Bowhunter's Safety in the last two months so if he's unsafe there's no hope.

Woke up early to get my miles in so I could help my wife make his Birthday breakfast. It worked out great as I got home just after she woke up. I pushed it a bit more than normal as I had a curfew and I needed that extra push. Almost to the turnaround my stomach let me know that 4 miles more would be very sketchy, so I used the emergency wet wipe I had. Thank goodness for country roads and wet wipes. Ew. Still managed to finish in 1:04:xx and I'm normally above 1:05 so a good run. Would've been even better without the pit stop. Too busy to check my watch for splits when I got home.

Had a fun day yesterday with my son shooting guns. His new .22 a bunch of times, 15 shots with the 7mm-08, 2 shots with my 30-06, and 15 or so with my .40 handgun. I was impressed he shot the -06 twice as he moved quite a bit when he shot it. He's also flinching with the 7mm-08 so we'll need to work on that as last time out he hit paper every time but now that he knows the kick he only hit the target a few times. Practice practice practice.

Got out this morning for a beautiful run. 48 degrees, clear skies, and zero wind. After 3 hot days (92, 93, 86) the dirt roads are dusty. With no wind the dust billowed straight up and hovered over the road and settled into the low spots, staying for 10+ minutes. It was cool to see but nasty to run through. I ran up my Veyo hill to get some hill work in for the week. I did it fairly strong which made me happy. I'm turning into a decent hill runner. Not great, but decent and I'm cool with that. The last two miles I kept under marathon pace and I'll take it. It was a bit of a sprint to get back home as the last mile I hit some gastric distress. Barely made it home in time. Note to self: don't eat jalapenos the night before a run. I've noted that before but I forgot. 

Total time: 1:05:35 AP: 8:11

Rest day tomorrow, 10 on Friday, and 22 Saturday. I'll be in a mountain town Saturday for a Fathers/Sons campout, so I'll get up at 5 am and run up Beartooth Canyon 11 miles then turn around and head back to camp. I'll smell good I'm sure.

10 miles on my loop. I haven't run it in a while as there's quite a bit of road running and I've wanted dirt roads instead. I will hit this one a few more times before my race as I'd forgotten what a doozy it is. I'm feeling pretty tired right now and my normal 10 mile out and back leaves me energized.

Got up at 5, out the door by 5:30. It rained last night (cancelling soccer games) but thankfully ended long before midnight so the dirt roads weren't squishy. Temps were perfect, 51F with no wind, so shorts, short sleeve shirt, and gloves. This loop heads me downhill, so after my daily .75 to the main road I headed downhill where I normally head uphill. It's an undulating downhill with mostly down, but a couple of ups. I hit the valley bottom at 3.5 miles then it's climbing for the next 5 miles. 1 mile is on the main road, but then turned off that for the meat & potatoes on a gravel road. This leads to a brief killer climb then a couple miles of up and flat before another brief killer-er climb, followed by another mile or more of up before finally hitting some downhill once again. After writing this I realize why I'm more tired as this route is pretty unforgiving.

Overall a good run. AP: 8:42

22 tough miles this morning on the same trail I ran last Saturday. I just uploaded to Garmin and now I see why I struggled so much - gained 2400 feet elevation, lots of up and down, up and down. That's tough to do that up and down thing. I didn't realize we had a real trail like that near town so I plan to use it quite a bit especially when preparing for Bighorn. 

Tried to pick it up on mile 21 just to see if the legs would respond, and they did to some degree. Got to a 7:30 pace but then hit some undulating trails and gave up that extra speed in a hurry. On the flat I think I could've held it okay but on sandstone uneven surface and other up and down stuff it was a no go. Tough to finish it out but I held on and got it done. It rained a ton yesterday evening and then a ton today from Noon-4 so I got lucky and squeezed this in between storms. Sounds like I was a lot luckier than Ogden folks. 

AP doesn't really matter on a trail run, but since it's recorded: 9:46. Total time: 3:34:55.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/314573504 

4 miles from the YMCA at Noon. This morning at 6 I was way too tired to get out of bed so I listened to my body. I then considered doing Boot Camp instead of my run as 4 miles won't break me, but again listened to my body and I have two more peak weeks of running left and I need to conserve my energy for running at this point. Boot Camp is likely out until after the DesNews marathon.

I ran naked today so no idea of time but I'm pretty sure I had a couple miles in the mid 7s. It felt comfortably hard. My legs aren't stiff from Saturday's long run but they are definitely tired. I'll get some good sleep tonight so I'm ready for 10 tomorrow morning.

10 miles this morning up my easy 10 route. Temps 44F so I wore arm warmers and gloves and that was perfect. Legs not feeling fantastic the first couple miles, but not horrible either. At 1.5 miles I heard turkeys gobbling and there were two toms with feathers outstretched following two hens. 20 feet away from me. Wild turkeys are not keen on humans and normally you don't see them as their eyesight is so good. These lads only had one thing on their mind and it wasn't me. Fun to see them strutting around.

I carried on and kept up a decent pace all the way to the turnaround spot, then kept up a good pace most of the rest of the way. With four miles to go I decided to pick it up so I'd have at least 3 good MP miles and turns out I got four good miles in. With .2 to go the clock was nearing 1:21 and I wanted to be under that arbitrary time so I leaned forward and got the legs moving in the high 5s and finished strong. I was sweating like a horse afterwards. Nice dark signs of sweat on my shirt. My family thinks it's gross. I think it's the sign of hard work. :)

Total time 1:20:40, AP 8:04. Last 4 miles: 7:37 7:15 7:11 6:53. 

8 miles up my Veyo hill. Felt a little sluggish which is expected after 4 solid miles yesterday. I maintained a good enough pace for being a little tired. The wind made the temps quite a bit colder than expected which actually wasn't too horrible once I got warmed up. I still put a nice sweaty smiley face around my collar. 44F with 10+ mph Easterly winds. Hands are arms were very chilled afterward, even with gloves and arm warmers. I saw the two tom turkeys again, this time chasing 3 hens. Very interested males at this point of spring. Lucky for them spring turkey season ended last Saturday.

AP: 8:15. Total time 1:06:00. Rest day tomorrow, 10 Friday, 22 Saturday.

10 miles up my Veyo hill. Decent temps out after wicked thunderstorms last night. Had a few lightning strikes right near the house and we were properly freaked out, unplugged everything, kids huddled in the basement for noise (while Kaylene and I watched it from the upstairs windows). Thankfully ended not long after their bedtime so all slept well. Roads weren't too muddy as we had a few good winds in the night to dry things out a bit. Threatened rain after the first mile, felt a few drops, but then it went away. Whew. I was not looking forward to being Ogden soaked (those poor marathoners). Felt pretty good on this run. Kept it nice and steady, nothing too fast or slow, powered up the hills decently for semi-tired legs.

AP: 8:15. Happy Memorial Day to all, hope you all have a great weekend, and thanks for all those who have gone before us to give us the freedoms we enjoy. God Bless America.

22 tough miles this morning, up my Veyo hill (3rd time this week). Beautiful morning, started at 5:30 from home with cotton gloves and arm warmers which I wore until mile 9. I was struggling at the half way point then turned around and it was mostly downhill so that helped. Just before the 20 mile mark I know a good hill is coming and I'm dreading it for at least a few miles before. I hit the hill and I felt what a lot of ultra runners have said in reports: a change of altitude is a relief to the muscles, regardless of whether it's up or down. I experienced that as on the uphill my underused uphill muscles sprang into action and my downhill muscles took a break. It was still a tough hill and my pace was a minute more than normal (10:00 vs 9:00) but it wasn't as horrible as I expected. A quarter mile after this I hit my 2 miles to go mark and my first thoughts were to slog it home and just make it. I was tired, my legs were tired. I then had the proper thought: finish these last two miles strong, pretending that 3:15:00 is in sight. I picked it up and quickly got to 7:30 pace, so needed to drop that a bit to 7:24. I was somewhat successful in that first mile but figured out that I would get down to pace then zone out and my pace would go up 20 seconds. I started focusing on turnover and was able to stay consistent. My mantra become "turn-ov-er, turn-ov-er, turn-ov-er" and it fit perfectly with my breathing (one breath in, three breaths out). The mantra kept me going and the last mile was a really good finish. Last two miles: 7:34, 7:18. I'll take it.

 Another thing I figured out is that running on gravel for 18 straight miles makes the feet sore. I recovered pretty quickly after getting home. We had a busy day, it's currently 9:45 pm and I'm still going strong, no nap. I had a big plate of spaghetti last night for dinner and I think that made a big difference today but not sure.

It's odd. The elevation for today is only a climb of 1442 feet but I was going up most of the first 11 miles and actually moved up 1000 feet in elevation. Last week I got 2400 feet but only moved a few hundred feet in elevation. The undulating trails versus running on gravel roads is very different. Today felt a lot harder, but I was much more tired after the run last week. 

AP: 8:48. Total time 3:13:41 http://connect.garmin.com/activity/318015744 

4 miles this morning before our Memorial Day activities. It was tougggghhhh to get going. Woke at 6 on my own but too tired so slept a bit. Got out of bed at 6:45 and headed outside. Didn't wear a watch as I didn't care about pace. Kept it really slow the first mile as it was a big struggle to keep the feet moving. Woke up a bit with every mile, but definitely a recovery run. 

A couple hours later we had all four kids in the car and headed to the mountains, which is the town of Red Lodge. First stop was the National Forest area free shooting range. Just a spot where people shoot. Thankfully nobody else was there, so we set up our targets and unloaded a bunch of .22 rounds from the two rifles. Loads of fun.

After that we went on a solid hike to Basin Lake. http://connect.garmin.com/activity/319190396. 5.34 miles round trip, 1500 feet elevation climb. This is the first time as a family we've actually made it to a destination. All the kids are old enough now that they all walked it themselves, not even any whining, and it couldn't have been a nicer day. Gorgeous pics and a fun time had by all. Stopped at the Boxcar Cafe after for burgers and shakes. A fantastic Memorial Day. Thanks to all who have served, especially those who have given all for our freedoms.

Woke at 5:10 to do 10 miles. Couldn't do it, too tired, went back to bed. Set alarm for 6 am to do 5 miles. Couldn't do it, too tired, went back to bed. Brought the running gear to work, planning on doing 6-8 at lunch but then remembered my lunch meeting. Rats. Looks like I'll switch my runs up by a day and not have a rest day on Thursday. Body speaks, I listen.

Revised my runs by one day, so 10 today, 8 tomorrow, 10 Friday, schedule calls for 24 on Saturday but we'll see. I've got three runs this month of 20 or more under my belt so another 20+ won't make too big of a difference. I'd like to go far on a mountain trail but I plan to be camping with my family so anything over 10 will make me happy.

Today's run was on soggy gravel roads with threatening skies which didn't get me until 1/2 mile from home. It rained over 1/2 an inch last night, which is a lot for Billings. The roads are sufficiently packed down that I was able to run on decent surfaces most of the time but thank goodness for my Dirty Girl gaiters as they kept the sand and mud out of my shoes. I gave them a good rinse when I got home. Run felt pretty good, kept it nice and sustained, not trying to push it as I've got a few more solid runs in the next few days.

AP: 8:25

8 rainy, windy, and muddy miles. Not the trifecta I was hoping for. Ugh. The wind more than anything just sapped my strength and made it tough to keep going. I was more prepared for the rain today, with a hat and arm warmers, but the wind was just annoying enough to make it not-quite-miserable-but-just-about. Okay, that's a bit of a whiny stretch but still...

AP: 8:25. Scalding hot shower felt great. Not that I was frozen, but it still felt great.

P.S. I broke 200 miles for the month, which is a first and is 22 miles more than any previous month, and I plan on doing 10 miles tomorrow. I'm hoping May will catapult me to a good season of races.

7.5 on the TM this morning at the Y because the wind was brutal. I planned to do 10 but I got a wife text at 7.5 telling me that my son needed me to help with his bow tie for the 8th grade "graduation"/celebration. I promptly got off the mill and got dressed and met them at the school...where he was wearing his already-tied bowtie. Oh well. At least he knew I was there in spirit to help him, and glad he figured it out on his own (after we spent an hour or more the other night with YouTube trying to learn how to tie the blasted new knot).

My run went fairly well. I kept it slower than I would've on the road, but it felt like a similar effort. 2% the entire time, 6.0 for a warmup then 6.5 for a while. 6.7 pace for a couple miles, then 7.1 for one, 6.7 for a couple more, then 7.4 for a couple and was planning to hold it at 7.4 until 10 miles. Maybe next time.

I knew we were going camping in an amazing area with great trails, leaving at 9:30 am, so the plan was to get up early, get in 14, then do 10 more on the trails at elevation. My alarm went off at 5 am and I was tired. I got up, used the toilet, saw the gorgeous day starting (after 5 days of rain), no wind, and I just wasn't feeling it. Set my alarm for 6 am, but at 6 I was still too tired, so I ditched my morning run plans and slept until 7. It still took me a while to get going, but eventually we got packed up and headed out the door. A couple hours later we were at an amazing place, East Rosebud Lake. My wife stayed at a cabin the night before with a group of teachers from the school where she works, and we joined them for lunch. It is gorgeous. I took the kids on a rowboat across the lake and back, then we hung out until after 5. I was dying to get out for a run and my window was narrowing. Finally we went back to our camp and I got dinner cooking and changed into my running gear. When my wife came back from a walk I took off, at 6 pm. I planned on going up to a lake 3.5 miles away and figured I could do it in about an hour. I took a headlamp just in case plus some food, a jacket, and a small first aid kit. Next time I'll throw in a small knife, a fire starting kit, and a space blanket. Not much weight but lots of just-in-case protection.

The trail was excellent, albeit really rocky. A few times I went too fast for the rocks and came close to spraining an ankle. Not a good idea 2 weeks out from a race. The start was 6200 feet and I could feel the difference in altitude. The trail was a great combo of up and flat, and climbed to 6800 feet when I got to the lake 38 minutes later. Great view, but no pics as I ran without a phone or mp3 player. The return took me 32 minutes with a total time of 1:10:xx.  

I wanted to do many more miles than this, but I'm okay with it. I got some altitude and trail training. And we had a fantastic weekend camping in a gorgeous part of the world. I am blessed. 

6 miles this morning from the Y as I dropped my son off for weight lifting at the school at 6 am. He really wants to make the basketball team....

Decent run, fairly windy but good temps. Tired legs the first couple miles but on the way back felt pretty good. Not great, but pretty good. That mountain running hit my legs pretty good, which is a bit crazy as it wasn't very many miles.

AP: 8:01

10 miles on the rims, which is our killer trail above town. Great trail, lots of fun to run the ups and downs and over sandstone and on a single track and ducking under tree branches. Great fun, beautiful albeit cold morning. 42F which is chilly even for us, and my hands are just now warming up. Wore gloves and arm warmers and that was fine on the run, but afterwards I was a bit chilled. Hopefully summer will hit at some point.

AP: 8:52

6 miles this morning. Thermo meter showed 42F so I wore gloves and arm warmers again, but probably didn't need the arm covers. It was gorgeous. No wind, no clouds, bright sun at 6:35 am. Perfect running weather. I felt really tired when I woke up, dawdled for a while, and on my run I was convinced it would be a laggard run. Turned out to be a good one actually, and not sure why. The 3 miles up weren't terribly hard but I seemed to be keeping a decent pace. On the way back my legs were automatically at a 7:35 so I pushed it and the last mile it felt great to be running sub 7 so I let them go.

AP: 7:52. Last three miles: 7:32, 7:17, 6:57.

Rest day, which normally means absolute & complete rest for me (even though it would be a good cross training day), but as my son is now doing Cross Fit with the basketball team at 6 am most mornings, and I get to drive him, I hit the gym for a bit of cross training. I love run on sentences. I saw a friend at the Y and we both happened to hit the recumbent bikes at the same time and chatted for 30 minutes and I got in 8.5 miles of cycling. Time goes fast when you talk. I rarely talk at the Y. I then did some lunges to beat up my quads a bit before the race. Should've been doing this way more, but alas. Did 20 pound dumbells, 2 sets of 15 walking lunges. Then did my 25 pushups.

8 miles this beautiful (and warmish) morning. 54 degrees, ah. There was a breeze so I could've worn gloves as my hands got cold, but it really was perfect. I'm concerned about my race being hot as I've had almost no heat training. Oh well. It's a trail run and it's more about scenery and finishing than being fast.

My legs are a bit sore from the lunges yesterday, but not bad. The perfect amount of soreness. I went up my Veyo hill and back and it was a good effort. A bit sluggish as all the training and not enough sleep has me worn out a bit, but overall not a horrible run. I'm pleased with it. Tomorrow is my last double digit day (and 17th wedding anniversary) and hopefully we'll get out on the boat and do some knee boarding and tubing with the family afterwards.

AP: 8:16.

Last double digit run of the training cycle, 10 miles on the Zimmerman to Indian Cliffs trail. Great fun. 954 feet of up, 988 feet of loss. Sadly that's just above what single miles look like on the 50K course, but at least I got some good up and down. If you check out the Garmin link the trail at the end (turnaround) is hugging the edge of finger canyons. A lot of fun to hug the side of the fingers. Nothing treacherous, but plenty of elevation change.

I had a nice nap this afternoon. I'm ready for a week of not doing much. 

AP: 9:18.  

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/324843186 - today

http://connect.garmin.com/splits/190110574 - 50K elevation splits (same route this year) 

4 miles at lunchtime, trying to get in a little bit of heat training. It just hasn't been warm here until the past few days, and I didn't think about running on the treadmill for some of my long runs. Oh well. I'll be dying the last 5 miles on a hot dusty road, but that's okay.

No watch today so no idea of time or paces, but based on my breathing and sweating I think I was between 5K & 10K pace for the last mile or more. I never felt strained or I would've backed off, but I wanted to get my HR up with at least some heat. Temps were between 70-73 so pretty similar to what I'll hit on Saturday (although on race day it will likely be mid to upper 70s). Gained a couple pounds over the weekend, probably will get a couple more before race day.... All the better to hit the trails with, right?

3 progressive incline miles on the TM at the Y this morning. Started at 2.5% and bumped it up .5% each 1/2 mile, doing the last bit at 5% and 7 mph. A good workout that produced lots of sweat in a short amount of time.

Dayton, WY is currently calling for 73 degrees for a high on Saturday, which would be lovely. Bring on the semi-cool temps and some clouds.

2 progressive TM miles. 2 measly miniscule miles seems like such a waste. I guess I will be grateful for the 2 measly miles as there are plenty on the blog who currently are unable to even run 2 miles. I am grateful for my health (knock on wood). Last physical effort before Saturday, so I hopped on the TM at the Y to be as hot as possible and to make it as hard as possible. Started at 6.5 mph with 2.5% incline, at one mile bumped up to 4% and 7.0 mph, and at 1.5 miles I bumped it to 5% incline. That produced a nice amount of sweat for a short workout. It rained a good amount on the course last night and more is expected before Saturday so I will likely be running a bit of a bog especially the first 14 miles. Hopefully not, but the temps are supposed to be in the mid to high 70s which is much better than before and after the race.

I'll post a report on Sunday as we'll be camping in the Bighorns on Saturday night (but a friend will let me shower in their hotel room after the race, thank goodness).

Excellent race today. Net net I beat my desired time, shaved off 27 minutes from last year, and I felt great when I finished. Huge win for me.

We camped this year at Dead Swede campground (love the name), which is about 10 miles from Burgess Junction. When my friend picked me up at 6:30 it was 26 degrees. Yikes. I brought tights and other long sleeve stuff as I was pretty worried. By the time we got to the starting line the car said 41 degrees, so my worry lessened. I decided to start just like last year, with arm sleeves and thin gloves. Also wore headband, short sleeve tech shirt, calf compression sleeves, and wool socks. I've rarely worn my water belt lately but the last time I did it rubbed my hips so I decided to not risk it and I wore my Nathan hydration pack. A bit much for a 50K, but it wears well on me. I put in 40 oz of Heed at the start. At my drop bag (14 miles) I had a handheld I would add to the mix filled only with water. The hydration plan worked to perfection. Nutrition plan was a gel or other food every 45 minutes and 3 Endurolyte capsules every hour. I changed that to take 2 capsules every time I took food. I also had 4 gels with caffeine, two with 25 mg, two with 50 mg. I used the smaller ones before big hills and the big ones the last 6 miles. Worked well.

Started off at 7500 feet heading up the gnarliest hill of the race, 530 feet in 1 mile. Ran what I could, walked when needed, mostly following the lead of people in front of me. I felt pretty strong and was probably in the top 20 or so. Climbed up to 8500 feet with a few dips in there, then dropped 1800 feet in 3 miles. Realized I hadn't tied my shoes tight enough and was starting to feel a hot spot. Didn't stop to tie my shoes but should have (finally did a few miles later on the uphill). Hit Cow Camp aid station and ate a strip of bacon as I hadn't done that last year as I didn't think 6 miles qualified as a bacon run. It was good. Started climbing and was in the same strung out pack of 4 until the next aid station. Along this stretch I passed Davy Crockett and thankfully recognized him. Walked with him for a few minutes, and he was doing well at mile 80 and was having a good race. That was fun to finally meet him. Last mile to the aid station (and drop bag) was 437 feet of up. I ran more of the hill than last year, which was a goal. A lady in a long sleeved red shirt ahead of me "pulled" me up the hill. She was tough. Slowly jogged into the aid station, which was a small win as most people walked the entire last mile. I stayed way too long as the watch shows I spent 12 minutes there. Yikes. Felt more like 5 or 6. I changed shirt (tank top), socks, shoes, put on moleskin to cover my developing blisters on the inside of my heels, filled the handheld water bottle and put 20 oz of Heed in the hydration pack. The moleskin took forever as I couldn't get the paper backing off what I had with me, so I used what the station had. It worked well but I wasted 2-3 minutes on just that. By the time I got out of there I had seen my group of people all take off. I caught two of them before the end, but it took a while. Next time need to be quicker out of there. 

Took off up a road for a mile, climbing 337 feet. Walked a bit but mostly ran, passing quite a few people who had passed me during the stop, people I'd never seen as I'd been towards the front. Hit a single track for a bit, but it was just a way to get to another forest service road. Ran on that for a few miles and just like last year this was the longest part of the run. Boring, blah, blah. Ran in the mid to high 9s those 3 miles but I know I could've been around 9:00. Took my first caffeine gel in here to kick me up and it seemed to work. Finally hit single track again and my spirits lifted. Ran along a side hill, passing quite a few (100 milers were in here quite a bit now), and hit another hill, one of the last. A half mile after the top was another aid station and grabbed some Pepsi, pineapple, and 3 mini candy bars. Yum. Passing lots of 30K walkers now, which continued the rest of the way. A pain on single track but they were very nice and quickly moved. A mile or so after the aid station we hit the toughest uphill of our course. It's straight up for 1/2 mile or so and steep enough that I had to stop twice to catch my breath even though I was only walking. Finally hit a sideways trail and walked that to the top. This is now Tongue River Canyon, the reason that the race started (someone wanted to dam the canyon and they thought let's have people run the canyon to see how pretty it is), and 6 miles and 3400 feet later I would be at the bottom. My shoes weren't tight enough so I sat down and tied them tighter. Amazing how long that takes when you see the people you'd just passed now pass by again. 

I started downhill. A few really steep sections then following a cow trail on mostly flat pastures, then down, then sidehills, then down, but mostly down, down, down, down. A few miles into the canyon I passed the lady in red who pulled me up the first hill, and told her how much she'd helped me and to follow along. She didn't but only finished 6 minutes behind me. I finally got to the aid station that seemed as if it would never come, and refilled water bottle, drank some mountain dew and ate half a banana and was off. I forgot about the hills after this station as I thought the hills were done. Not big ones, but big enough. Next four miles had ups of 102, 42, and 78. It was actually refreshing to use different muscles. Finally hit the last major aid station, Marathon, at 26 miles. Refilled water bottle, grabbed a little food, and was off on the long boring part. Only a regular road the last 5 miles, and no shade after the first mile. Thankfully we had a steady headwind which kept me cool, especially with a wet singlet in front and back. By now I'd taken off my hat as it was making me hot and I kept my head wet frequently. This is a tough stretch. I did much better than last year, I think only walking 3-4 times for short stretches, and keeping under 11 minutes per mile. I knew that if I could be around 10 minutes that I would beat 6 hours. At the top of the canyon I thought I might hit 5:30 but I underestimated how slowly I could run on the steep downhill. It was mostly a 10:30 per mile on the steep parts as I had to put on the brakes most of the way. I need to figure out how to run faster downhill. 

Anyhow, I was doing okay but not great, passing a lot of walkers. Only two people passed me in these miles, but of course one was in my age group, just like last year. My 3 boys rode their bikes and found me with two miles to go and it was awesome. Also awesome was the girls on bikes who gave out Otter Pops with 3 miles to go. Fantastic. Hit the last aid station, topped up the water, and was off. I had caught up to the guy who passed me but he didn't stop and finished 30 seconds ahead of me. Without having water I'm sure I wouldn't have been that close behind him, so I'm fine with that. I saw my wife and daughter with 1/2 mile to go and that was a lot of fun. My wife ran along for a bit then traded my oldest for his bike and he ran with me the last quarter mile while she biked ahead to take pictures. All four kids crossed the line with me, 3 on their bikes and one running. Lots of fun. I felt great on the finish and could've kept going (but glad I didn't have to). 

On finishing, I was very happy with my race. I came under the time I wanted, I felt really strong, nothing hurt (for hours after I had zero pain with no medications at all), and I was with my family. We hung out at the park for 3-4 hours, but this year we were set up with a shelter, chairs, and some food. Next year we'll bring the cooler. As we were sitting there I saw a guy carrying a bag with Rob Rohde written on it. I called his name and sure enough it was Rob. He had to drop out of the 50 miler at mile 25, but his wife rocked her 30K. It was fun to meet yet another FRBer, so two in one weekend. After finally getting my drop bag returned we headed back up the mountain and camped again, then headed home Sunday morning. Fantastic weekend in the Bighorn mountains. Ready for DesNews (when I can walk again). Thanks for reading. You must have been really bored.... :)

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/328999969 

Dropped my son off at school at 6 am for his basketball Crossfit workout which meant I would be showering at the Y, so I might as well try and exercise my aching legs. 10 minutes on the bike, very easy, 10 minutes on the treadmill at 3 mph and 3% incline. Feels better to walk uphill right now.

I need advice from experienced back-to-backers. I'm running a marathon in 5 1/2 weeks. What can I do to actively recover from the quad-busting I got from Saturday's 8000 feet of elevation drop? I'm familiar with passive recovery, but I'd like to get back to running sooner rather than later so I can get in some quality workouts. Any advice is appreciated!

Y again this morning. 20 minutes on the bike, nearly 30 minutes walking on the treadmill at 3 mph and 3% incline. I bumped it up to 4.5 mph and ran about 20 steps before slowing down again. Man does it hurt. I can't believe that Crockett isn't even sore, and he did 100 miles of this crazy course. Amazing.

10 minutes on the bike, 20 minutes walking on the treadmill at 3% and 3 mph. Again tried running and it felt much better than the other day, but I'm still sore. I'll hold off on running again until my quads aren't sore. They are clearly telling me they need more time to rest. I've obviously been retaining water as my weight was 165 the past few days (and 162 pre race), but today it's about 163.5 so the water levels are lowering. Good news.

6  miles this morning and felt pretty good.  quads hurt on the downhill parts.  hoping that I can put in a full week of running next week.

Thought I would do 5 today at lunch, but when I got to the Y locker room I decided to do Boot Camp instead. I think it was a wise choice. We warmed up with a run around the block and normally I'm one of the top people. I let just about everyone pass me today, and that was hard, but it was where my legs were. Mid way through the workout we ran around the block again and I was much faster, being warm, but had no oomph. To be expected, but it confirmed to me that my plan for this week of 42 miles was way exorbitant. Maybe 25-30 miles is a more likely plan, but even if it's less than that I'll still feel good about it. The legs are definitely still healing.

And on another note, the barn cat we got last year and forgot to spay (since we rarely see her), decided to give birth last night on the deck by our master bedroom at 11:30 PM. We knew she was ready to have her babies, but why couldn't she have done it during the day? Honestly. Anyone want a kitten?

I think my legs are (mostly) back. Boot camp yesterday was a good thing. Did my 6 mile out & back this morning, and the legs felt mostly normal, and I had some speed back without even trying. At the turnaround I was in the 7:30s without trying, and the rest of the way back was between 7:30s to 7:50s with no pain. A little stiffness and tiredness but no pain. Very encouraging.

AP: 8:24

5 miles this morning, a bit warm and humid for 6 am in my neck of the woods, 65F and 63% humidity. Felt pretty good. Legs tired and sore from Boot Camp, still sluggish from the 50K, but getting better. Took it nice and easy. Paces on the way up were in the mid to high 8s, on the way down in the high 7s to low 8s.

AP: 8:40

45 minute "tempo run" in the heat that probably wasn't really a tempo run. Warmed up for 1 mile, then did 3 miles at marathon pace, then slowed down until I hit 45 minutes. I forgot to look up tempo run before heading out the door, so I winged it. Based on my reading I should've warmed up for 15 minutes, did 15 minutes at a hard but sustainable pace, then cooled down for 15 minutes. Oh well, it was a good workout in 80F temps which is good heat work for me.

Pace for middle miles: 7:23, 7:20, 7:26.

Afterwards at the gym I talked to a guy who is a former Weber runner, Trent (last name)?. He lives in Billings, works as a lawyer, and he put together the winning Ragnar team with his old teammates. He said he's only in 6:20 shape right now so he was the driver and team captain, but they rocked a 5:45 pace so they could beat BYU's time from last year. He was disappointed BYU didn't show up with a team. Maybe in 2014.

6 miles this morning. Feeling some niggles, so maybe doing too much too soon. Right outer calf muscle a bit sore before heading out, which is my shin splint spot that I haven't felt a niggle in months. Left hamstring a bit sore during my run, and I did feel it earlier this week and it's definitely a remnant of the 50K. Right bottom of foot sore, where the arch starts closest to the heel. My tempo run yesterday was probably a bit much. I'll roll things out tonight, take it slow tomorrow and take an ice bath afterwards.

AP: 8:35

No run today. Giving my body a couple rest days to heal up.

5 miles this morning on the trail above the rims. Slow and steady the first couple miles, then the legs warmed up and they went faster the last couple. Right foot is sore, I think it's plantar fasciitis but I'm not sure. Rolling it out with a golf ball helps. Right calf shin splint thing is feeling better. Friday I could feel the tightness with every step while walking, but got better through the weekend. Good call to not run on Saturday. It warmed up pretty quickly today. Will just take it easy. I think I've got a case of the Too's: too much, too soon, too fast. It wasn't all that much or fast, but too soon for sure. Hopefully DesNews will still come together but I have some doubts. No worries, but doubts.

AP: 9:01. Paces 10:39 (still getting stuff together, started clock too soon), 9:07, 9:01, 8:27, 7:35.

Until today I was unfamiliar with Zoe Romano. Her journey of running the Tour de France right now is pretty amazing. I hope she's successful.

8 steady miles this warmish morning, 66F with 68% humidity. No wonder it felt different. I need more running in warmer temps so I'll take it.

Right calf hasn't bothered me in a couple days. A little tight, but not like on Friday. The right foot I'm almost certain is plantar fasciitis, probably from running too fast on hard surfaces while my legs were still tight from the 50K. Live and learn. I'm concerned that it will slow down my training over the next few weeks, but hopefully it won't impact the actual race as the foot is fine once I warm up. Left hamstring is a little tight but I think it will go away.

My schedule today called for 10 and I seriously considered it as I'm a slave to the schedule, and I figured "what the heck" but at the 4 mile turnaround spot I decided to turn around. My legs didn't feel great, body wasn't loving it, and 2 miles won't make a difference for good but could add to the bad pain.

AP: 8:37

Sitting here at my desk with my shoes off rolling a golf ball around on my right foot. Hopefully the fascia will flee at the sight of the hard goodness of the ball.

Yes, I was "that idiot" out running at 12:30 pm in 95 degree heat. While I knew it would be hot and I prepared for it by bringing along a water bottle, I wasn't as prepared as I thought. The water heated up to 95 degrees after 25 minutes and it was hooot. The wind helped feel cooler but probably didn't help too much. I doused myself a bit, but I was running on a trail so no chances for sprinklers. I stopped running at 4 miles as I was starting to feel a little woozy, and I stood inside an under-the-road tunnel for a few minutes to get some shaded. I then had 1 mile to go to my truck, so I walked the first quarter mile and as it was downhill slowly jogged the rest of the way. Weighed myself when I got back to the Y and I was at my goal weight of 158. I haven't seen that number since I was 19. That means I lost about 4 pounds in only 5 miles.

While my goal of getting in some heat training was achieved, it wasn't the smartest thing to do. Guess I'll stick to lower temps or shorter miles next time. Lesson learned. No harm, no foul.

Did my first ever Yasso 800s, and did them on my normal 8 mile route. Great workout! Warmed up for one mile and since it was already warm (72) figured that was enough and started. First couple 800s had some uphill which was tough to maintain but great cardio. Actually half or more had some uphill, and a few times I was gasping for air at the end. I kinda liked it actually.

Splits: 3:40, 3:22, 3:16, 3:12, 3:17, 3:16, 3:12, 3:10. Took an ice bath with 5 lbs of ice. Not too bad really, but helped hugely with recovery. 

10 pace miles this morning as that's what my modified schedule called for. Drive into town so I could run the miles on a mostly flat route, so I chose the last six miles of the Billings marathon for an out and back. Warmed up one mile, then got going. It was tough to keep a 7:24 pace. Partly because it was a slight uphill most of the first five miles, partly because I had done 800s yesterday, and partly because I have a hard time going on cruise control. I also have a hard time staying focused. My mind would wander and my pace would as well.

Paces: 7:25, 7:28, 7:34, 7:31, 7:34, (4:00 walk break), 7:35, 7:26, 7:23, 7:24, 7:18. Walked 3/4 mile back to the truck.

Drove home, took a 15 min ice bath with a 10 lb bag of ice. It's way colder with 10 lbs vs 5 lbs like yesterday.

18 slow miles this morning. Legs are tired, body is tired from not enough sleep but I slogged out these miles. My right plantar fascia was screaming at me yesterday from the 10 pace miles, but 12 hours after running today my foot feels good. I'm not worried about it but it is annoying. I'm a bit concerned about my left hamstring which shot a pang up to my butt cheek yesterday doing the pace miles, but I continued on. Today I felt it a bit mostly on the uphill. I'll try and roll it out and baby it as much as I can.

AP: 9:12. Took a couple healthy walking breaks, one at mile 16. I was beat and out of water. Took another ice bath and recovered well enough to fully enjoy the day with my family. Maybe I was a bit muted but I was fully present. 

1 mile on the trail, but after 1/2 mile I realized I had some inside business to take care of, so I turned around and drove to the Y to run on the treadmill. It was a very wise decision.

Ran 4 TM miles at 2%, first 2 at 8:34 pace, next at 7:56 pace, last at 7:24 pace, last 1/4 at 6:22 pace. The first trail mile was soooo slow, a 10:00 pace. My legs were a bit sleepy still.

The plantar fasciitis wasn't near as bad over the weekend, so I'm following the symptoms from the literature. When I run fast on hard surfaces, it hurts after running. When I run slower on softer surfaces it doesn't hurt as bad. I had Kaylene use a rolling pin on my legs Saturday night and I thought she'd taken up a new profession as a PT, it hurt so bad. My left hamstring right above my knee is super tight, and my right calf just above my ankle is super tight. I think the rolling pin helped a lot, and the calf rolling helped my plantar fasciitis, I think. It makes sense that a tight calf makes the PF tight so I'll have her keep doing that. I'm feeling pretty good about the DesNews though. My plan is to run 20 this Saturday, which is 2 1/2 weeks out, then my taper begins.