Second Wind

Rest.

The usual 6 miler this morning, broken up by not one but two lovely pit stops this morning.  It's bad enough when you have to stop for one pit stop, but two!  During a short 6 mile run!  Sorry, I know that is probably too much information.....  Run felt really good this morning and I still had that spring in the step that carried over from the end of last week.  Things are starting to feel really good again but I am reluctant to really push the pace or do any hard running at this point.  I think I may continue the same as usual for this week and then think about adding a tempo run next week sometime.  We'll just have to see how it goes.  Did the PM yoga after the run and it continues to be as enjoyable as ever.  All that extra hamstring and lower back stretching really seems to be making a diference.  I was going to start the 100 push ups challenge this morning but I forgot to do my max push ups.  Maybe I will get to it tonight.

Time:  49:58  8:20/mile

Ran solo today because I stayed up too late last night and slept in for about an extra hour.  Being short on time I picked up the pace a little bit today and then finished with a 6:45 mile just to kind of give the legs something to think about.  The last mile felt a little harder than I was expecting but not terrible.  It was a good opportunity to prepare the legs for adding a little tempo run next week...maybe.  Nothing else too exciting, normal temp and a light breeze made for a plesant run.

Time:  47:38  7:56/mile

Todays run was a little harder than I was expecting.  We started out about right but continued to increase in speed the whole way until by the last mile, which was solo, I decided to run at GMP or about 7:25/mile.  During the middle portion of the last mile I did about a 600 meter interval at about 5K pace.  That pace felt much more doable than yesterdays sub 7:00.  Got a good night sleep and was out the door at the normal time today.  Ran in shorts today but it was a little colder than yesterday, but still not bad.  I think it was about 44 with little to no wind.  I have totally blown this week on the push-ups challenge so I may be looking to start next week.  I know, I'm a lazy bugger.

Time:  49:10  8:12/mile

Finally a true recovery type run.  Took it really easy for all six miles today.  No speeding up in the middle or the end, no faster miles, just plain, ordinary, easy aerobic running.  I  have a little discomfort in the left lower back area and a slight twinge in the left knee but I think those are probably the result of the previous couple of days of breaking my normal routine and running a little faster.  Hopefully those areas won't develop into bigger problems.  Softball is starting up again for the girls.  Ahhh the endless nights and Saturdays at the fields watching games and practices......  Must mean that warmer weather is getting really close.  Temp was 51 today with little wind and I ran in shorts....again.

Time:  51:57  8:39/mile

I actually did my push ups test today and I will start week 1 on Monday.  I am embarrassed to say how many (how few) I did.  I knew it would be bad because I have no upper body strength at all but, oh well, that's why I'm doing this right?  So my max was a meager 10 push-ups, no laughing.....

I hope those new shoes of mine come soon, these old ones are getting.....well.....old.  Moderate pace run today with everything feeling pretty good for the most part.  The aches I complained of yesterday were a bit better today so I think my hunch about the faster running being the cause was probably right.  Nice weather again today but that is all supposed to change for the next several days with rain and colder temps in the forecast with Saturday being the worst of it.  Don't know what that means for the long run tomorrow, I guess we'll just wait and see.

Time:  49:53  8:19/mile

What a nice day for a run.  It supposed to rain on our parade today but surprisingly the sky was clear above Vegas with clouds all around the outside.  By the time we finish it was almost all the way clouded over so imagine it will probably rain sometime today but who know, it's Vegas.  Thought I might to 15 today but started to feel aches in the hips an lower back around mile 11 so decided to stop at 13 and call it a week.

Time:  1:50:49  8:27/mile

Rest.

Rain, Wind and Cold = No Running.  Finally got that ugly weather that I knew would come sooner or later.  Slept in and enjoyed the extra rest.  I was really looking forward to trying out my new shoes, maybe I'll have to make my way over the YMCA tonight and go on the treadmill.

Made it to the Y and did 6 on the treadmill.  I really don't know how you treadmillers do it all winter long, how boring!

Time:  48:24  8:04/mile

Been a bit overwhelmed at work the past couple of days so haven't had time to run or blog.  Nice rest time for the running legs I guess.

Didn't get out again today....yet.  May try to run at my daughters softball practice tonight, we'll see how that goes.

Made it out running at my daughter practice.  Nice relaxing run after the past few days.  Weather was cold but nice and actually got a nice change of scenery outside our regular neighborhood run.  Don't really like running the hills around her softball fields but didn't mind at all today.

Time:  49:40  8:17/mile

Thought I would feel a lot worse than I did this morning having run just 10 hours earlier but actaully felt pretty good.  It was a great morning for a run even though it was a little on the cool side.  Did some yoga this morning for the first time this week.  I could tell my hamstrings were tight due to my slacking for a few days.  I did day two of the push up challenge and missed the rep numbers in the last two sets by one push up.  I have decided that I will repeat week one next week, hopefully I will be able to fiinish all the sets and move on to week two.  My chest and arms are sore but I thought it would be worse.  Feels good to be sore, lets me know I am doing something good for my body.

Time:  50:27  8:24/mile

Picked up the pace just a little bit today.  I think we had the calm before the storm this morning cause I think we are in for possible rain or even a little snow this weekend.  But this morning was nice.  Finished the run up with some nice PM yoga which always helps.

Time:  48:56  8:09/mile

Added a couple extra miles onto the normal long run this week.  Turned out to be a chilly but beautiful morning with clear skies and slightly breezy.  The rain and snow that was forcast never showed up.  Felt pretty good for most of the run today until the fatigue really started to set in around mile 12.  I really have a ton of work to do on my endurance this year.  I'm going to have to start doing 20 milers for fun in the coming weeks.  Hope everyone has a great presidents day weekend.

Time:  2:06:50  8:27/mile

Rest.

Nice day off today so decided to add an extra mile to the regular weekday run.  Woke up this morning to wet roads but a fairly mild morning, good morning for a run.  Even slept in a bit today which is always nice.  Nothing else too exciting, just a run of the mill type run.

Time:  58:33  8:22/mile

Back to the normal routine again.  Another fairly easy 6 today.  Totally slacking on the push-ups challenge, I think I will try to do them tonight.  Since I knew I would be repeating week one, I think I gave myself and excuse to slack.  Hopefully I can find the motivation to keep it going cause I really need the extra strength training.  The weather looks like it is going to gradually warm up this week, we could hit 70 by the end of the week.

Time:  49:56  8:19/mile

Another fine morning for a run except for the chilly temps which were bearable.  Ran the usual 6 and did the last mile at almost goal marathon pace.  My oldest son is in the midst of working on his eagle scout project so we spent most of the run talking about things we need to help him do with that.  The conversation sure helps the time pace quick on a run.

Time:  48:49  8:08/mile

Took a day off today.  Ahhhhhhh!

A little breezy this morning but a nice run anyway.  I usually feel pretty good after a day off and today was not exception.  I didn't go out and break any records but with the long run tomorrow I wasn't looking to.  Got a call from a friend that wants me to run on his Lake to Lake relay team up in St. George on March 7.  Megan is cool with me doing it but I wish we could add her to a team somewhere.  This would make two relays for me this year with none for her, bummer.

Time:  50:24  8:24/mile

Split up the long run into to runs today again, separated only by about an hour.  Got up and ran with Meg for the frist 7 then loaded up the truck with yard sale fodder and took it over to where my daughter's softball team is having a fundraising yard sale.  Then finally made it over to my Ragnar 6 mile training run to run with the team.  We had a nice turn out today and I was able to get in a pretty fast mile in there.  The two faster guys dropped me with about 2 to go but hung in there and did okay.  I can tell I really need to get some tempo runs in soon.

Time:  1:50:08  8:24/mile

Rest......well sort of......ended up having to install a new alternator in my car.  Could they make these tiny little engine compartments any smaller?

The usual six.  My left calf was acting up a little bit on Saturday's long run and it started acting up again during today's run.  Not sure what that is all about or where it came from.  Rolled it today and hopefully a little extra stretching will help it out.  Temps turned super warm this morning (55 degrees and no wind) and I was way over dressed.  I was too lazy to go back upstairs and change so I just suffered.  Push up challenge is on hold for me until my right hand feels better.  I jammed my thumb really bad playing ball several years ago and now to do push-ups on it is not feeling very good.  I'll do what I can but it probably won't be much.....wussy man out.

Time:  49:20  8:13/mile

Took it fairly easy today to see how the calf would react.  The calf seemed to be okay and I didn't have the same pain I have had on the last couple of runs so that is good.  I could tell it was a little sore and I was aware of the slight pain but I would say today was a nice improvement.  Did some extra stretching and rolling today after yoga and hopefully the extra stuff will help.  May end up backing out of the lake to lake realay next week because we just got news that my daughters both have a softball game that day and my older daughter has the end of season tournament in basketball, could be a really long, but fun, day.

Time:  51:36  8:36/mile

Picked up the pace a little bit again today but the calf is still bothering me some.  It feels like it is ready to cramp up at any moment during the run but never does.  I hope the infamous charlie horse doesn't come up and bite me one of these times.  For now I am day to day on the running, we'll see how it goes tomorrow.  Had one fast mile at about 7:40 pace.

Time:  48:45  8:07/mile

Run ended up going much better than expected today.  I was still a little worried about the calf giving me problems today and it did a little bit for the first mile or so but after that it warmed up and felt fine.  Temp was a cool 50 degrees today.  50 is usally really good but there was a pretty steady breeze out of the north that made it feel colder than 50.  Ran the over all run at a faster than normal pace and ran mile 6 as the fast mile at 6:58.  That last mile actaully felt really good, everything felt smooth.  Felt really nice to be running at a comfortable fast pace again.  I know I have been saying it for a couple of weeks now but I would really like to get healthy enough to turn that one fast mile into 3-4 faster paced tempo miles.  Luckily I have no pressing races coming up so I don't feel the pressure to push it before I am ready.  Today is Meg's birthday and me and the kids decorated the downstairs while Meg was getting ready.  I don't like birthdays in the middle of the week, today is probably the most busy day for her this whole week, not much time to celebrate.  We will probably celebrate hers and mine on Saturday since hers is today and mine is on Sunday.  Oh well, at least we got a little fun in this morning.

Time:  48:03  8:00/mile

Backed off the pace today and took it easy in preparation for tomorrows long run.  The calf continues to behave itself and appears to be on the mend, I'll keep my fingers crossed that it continues to improve.  I haven't decided on the distance for tomorrows long yet just because I want to leave it open to change if the calf starts acting up.  I would like to do somewhere between the usual 13 or maybe get up to 16-17 if possible.  I guess that is the beauty of not having a training plan in place, I don't have to stress about not hitting a particular workout or distance.  Then again, I don't have that extra motivation to push harder to try and meet a goal.  Kind of a double edge sword.

Time:  51:11  8:32/mile

What a day today turned out to be!

Meg and I went out for our usual Saturday morning long run and Meg was hurting from the start.  She was able to gut out 5 miles and I finally convinced her to go get her bike and go for a ride since it was getting light and it was beautiful morning.  She wasn't happy about it but she went anyway.  I continued on with my run and completed my 14 miles.  The calf wasn't an issue at all today, infact I didn't even think about it until mile 7 when I realized it wasn't bothering me.  Anyway, as I am coming up the street to my house I am greeted by all four of my kids screaming about mom crashing on her bike and breaking her arm....OH NO!!!!  I jumped in the car and obeyed all traffic signals and speed limits as I blasted down the road in search of Meg.  I didn't find her and as it turns out she was able to get a ride home with some people in a nearby house and we had passed each other somewhere in the middle.  Well, when we finally hooked up I got the full story. 

She was cruising along pretty good on her bike and two dogs came out to greet her from someones yard.  One was nipping at her heals and the other darted in front of her bike which hit her front wheel and caused her to go over the front of her bike.  She estimates she was going about 20-25 MPH at the time trying to get away from the dogs and she took the brunt of the fall with a knee, elbow and shoulder.  Luckily the neighbors of the "stupid dog" house were very kind to Meg, even after she woke them up by dragging herself to their front door and ringing the door bell.  They loaded up her and her bike and brought her home. 

We spent the next 3 hours in the so call "quick care" among a bunch of sniffling, coughing, upchucking whinny babies.  Yes a young girl upchucked in the middle of the lobby and then came and sat down right next to me......Nice!!  Nobody in the quick care came out to clean up the puke and since a couple people had almost stepped in it I had to go put a chair over it to warn people.  It was still there when we went in the back, HELLO?!?!?!? When we went up to check in they wouldn't check Meg in without her photo ID, ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!!  I was not a happy camper at this point and was lucky they didn't toss me out of the building.  So I drove home to get Megs ID and finally got her all checked in.  The we sat and watched all the lesser injured people go first.....no I wasn't bitter at all.....  Too many details, I know.  Bottom line, she didn't break anything that they could see on the xray.  She has some nasty swelling in her elbow and is very sore from the elbow to the shoulder.  I think there is a lot of soft tissue damage but we don't really know from just the xray.  If it doesn't improve in the next couple of days we will probably be have to go in for an MRI.  The icing on the cake is when we were getting ready to leave, the nurse asked if we wanted her to clean up some of Meg's road rash that was now oozing with blood.  NO, NO, WE'VE BEEN HER FOR 3 HOURS, WE'LL JUST GO HOME AND TAKE CARE OF IT YOU INSENSITIVE........ARGHGHGH!!!  This was quite literally the quick care from hell.

So for now we are keeping her drugged up on Tylenol 3 and Ibuprofen.  It hasn't improved yet but I suppose it will be a couple of days before we will see some.  I will keep you all posted as to what happens.  If this injury doesn't heel up properly and turns out to be a lot worse, I wonder if we have and recourse against these dog owners?  Riverton Paul attorney man, what do you think?  I guess it really doesn't matter, I just hope she makes a full recovery.

We did go to dinner at the Olive Garden for a birthday celebration for Meg, Me and my oldest son Michael who will be 15 in a few days.  We spent two hours in there waiting for the slowest service in the world.  Then we waited in the longest pie line ever at Marie Callendars.  My daughter lost her last basketball game and the number one seed in the tournament.........my wife left me, my dog ran away, there's tear in my beer and all that other country song sob story stuff....

What a day today turned out to be!

Time:  1:56:41  8:20/mile