Clyde's Comeback!

16 mile Big Nasty Workout! It sucked but I'm glad I stayed in and didn't pull out short. All weekend my legs have been very sore, and tight. My left hamstring that has been an issue most of the summer and both my calves refused to loosen up after last Saturday. I was feeling very beat up  this morning and told the guys there was a good chance I'd skip the speed stuff or cut it short. But we warmed up nice and easy for 4 miles and then I decided to try it. 

The plan was to do a 4 mile, 3 mile, 2 mile, 1 mile set all at MP with a 2 min jog to recover. Thats how it looked on paper- out on the trial with my sore legs it looked a lot like where all the bad people go after this life.

4 mile set: Avg- 5:50 pace. My legs didn't want to go from the start. It was so hard to just get going up to speed and within a quarter mile both Logan and Dave are long gone. I just try and relax and take it for what it's worth.

3 mile set: Avg- 5:45 pace. This one should have been the hardest. Don't ask my why, but there are a lot of reasons. However I just stuck it in gear and was able to hit the goal time back up the trail.

2 mile set: Avg- 5:46 pace. Basically the same effort as the 3 mile set. Right where I wanted to be ish.

1 mile: 5:37- Being the last one it was easier to try a little harder on this one. We did have a pretty hard head wind as well so a good effort a the end of a wicked workout.

Then we did a slow and easy 2 mile cool down.

Looking back at my splits I am really happy with the results considering how I felt today. Other than my legs being jacked up, the rest of my body and mind were pretty trashed too. So a good workout with a crappy body. Really glad I just did it. I was so close to bagging it for the day and just doing an easy run instead of the speed stuff. I just hope I didn't do any damage to the sore parts of my legs and if not hopefully I'll recover by Wednesday's mile workout! Ouch!

(Black Stratus- 116.5) 

5 mile run this afternoon. The weather has been a little cooler and that was nice. The legs actually felt better on this run than they did this morning.

(Blue Stratus- 471.9) 

12.2 mile morning run (out and back) up by overpass. It was nice and cool this morning. It showed 60 degrees at my house and I was loving it. My hands actually got a little cold up around the golf course on the way out. The Wildbull ran me down as he was finishing up his run. Always good to see the bull out running. I took it way easy this morning and actually never really got into the run- just kind of poked along. I'll try a couple hours of recovery and then go back out for 7.8 more so I can be done before this afternoon as we have company coming. 

(New Landreth- 89.9) 

 1 hour and 40 min rest/ recovery and then back out for the second run. 

7.8 mile GS loop. Blah is about the best way to describe this run. Just getting in the miles. The cool temps made this one doable.  

(Blue Cumulus 487.8) 

12.2 mile morning run. Overpass out and backer. Another cool morning. The Circle of Trust had planned to do a mile repeat workout this morning, but Logan called last night and we decided to do it on Thursday instead. That ended up being like Christmas in September to me. There would have been no way under the sun or stars that I could have did a big workout today. Hopefully a day will bring some fresher legs.

(Landreth- 401.2) 

7.8 mile run today at noon. I wanted to switch it up and get off my regular routes so I ran from home down to our new office. It ended up being right at the 7.8 miles that I still needed today. I didn't push it but kind of wanted to get out a this little rut. So I went at a brisk but easy pace (6:55 for the run). It seems like every time I run it's a easy recovery or warmup or basically hard and fast. There is never a nice inbetween paced run. This afternoons run felt pretty good. So we'll see how tomorrow morning goes.

(Blue Stratus- 479.7) 

16 miles early (4:30 a.m) this morning as part of a Big Workout with the Circle of Trust. The plan was to warmup with 4 miles then do 2 miles at Tinman Tempo pace (6:00 min) then 6x1 mile repeats @ LT pace (5:30 min mile projected pace) w/200 m recovery in between and then cool down. 

I've been feeling very trashed this week but today I felt a lot better than the last two days- what a blessing because this workout would have killed me if I'd have been feeling like I did early this week. The warmup went by fast like always and then we started the Tinman. It was nice to kind of get the legs going at that pace. The problem with the whole workout was it was dark and very hard to see the trail. Now to start the miles and I'm really stressing about it. For some reason I feel like a lamb walking to the slaughter...

1. 5:18- Got out strong and trying to get a feel for the workout. Like I said running in the darkness is weird.

2. 5:24ish- I didn't start my watch on this one so when I finished there was nothing. Dave was a short distance back and said this is a ballpark of where I was at.  

3. 5:25- Just trying to get through this- halfway baby!

4. 5:23- Locked in to a pretty good little groove on these middle one's. 

5. 5:19- I can see the workout coming to an end and I'm getting butterflies.

6: 5:16- A really good mile. I felt really strong coming up the trail here- at the halfway point I checked all the sensors and my body said you can go faster so I tried to finish hard. There is a small hill on the last quarter so a hard finish here is a good finish.

Cool down back up past the parking lot. Very glad to have this one in the past. Considering how I've felt lately I was happy to put together a solid workout for once today. Last time I did this workout a few weeks back it trashed me for a good week or more so hopefully I'll recover a little better from this one.  

(black stratus- 132.5) 

3 miles this afternoon. I didn't feel too bad as far as the legs go. The sun did feel really hot but the temp was only 95 or so... so I guess it wasn't that bad. I like 3 miles in the afternoon rather than 8 any day of the week. I did a little over a mile of this barefoot up at the GS park. I kind of just ran little crazy loops all over the grass.  

13 miles this morning. The plan was for 9 miles this morning and 4 this afternoon. However I'm going to Provo with Logan's x-country team and we are leaving this afternoon. So once I got out running this morning I just though I'd get it all over with now. I did a little different version of my GS/Overpass out-and-back course. I like this one a lot better and will most likely move in that direction on future runs. I'm just in love with the morning weather we've been having the last few days. Just perfect! The afternoons are still a nightmare but what can you do...

(New Landreth- 102.9)

22 mile run early this morning in Provo with Dave, Logan and Greg H. joined us for a while as well. Basically we ran from one end of Provo to the other and up the canyon and then some. This was a hard one for the Circle of Trust. We were all trashed to begin with and 22 miles don't come easy  on tired legs. The last 5 miles we did a progression tempo which was really hard to shift gears but we managed to pull it off. Nothing really fast.... I think the fastest mile was at 5:39. 

After that we spent a LONG day at the BYU meet. It was fun, but very long. It was good to see all the high school kids run so well and also some older guys from the blog who ran the open 4 mile race. Good job everyone.

(Black Stratus- 152.5) 

Sick.

Still sick so no running this morning. 

I went down to Mesquite today to work and we thought it would be a quick (get in- get out-get paid) job... Oh no. We'll be back down there tomorrow. So after I got home this afternoon I thought I'd try running and also said to myself, "I'll do 8 miles now and then 12 more this evening to get all caught up". Wishful thinking Clyde- I thought I felt better...

8 mile run- 100 degrees and still very much sick. This was bar non the worst training/ casual run I've ever had in my entire life. My fever came back, I had 4 potty stops in one hour and now I feel worse than even yesterday.

So yeah I'm not going out again today and I decided to not worry about mileage this week by trying to get "caught up". The mission is to get better and possibly do the one Big Workout on the schedule.  

(Blue Stratus- 487.7) 

Another sick morning. But I do feel better than last night. We'll see how the day goes and maybe get one in this evening...

13 miles this evening. Running was hard as I'm still trying to kick the sickness. I hope to shake this out of the system as soon as possible.

(New Landreth- 115.9) 

13.5 mile run this morning. I'm starting to come out of this sick phase. But I did decide to pass on the Big Workout this morning with the Circle of Trust. It would have just been pointless for me. I barley was able to pull off an avg. of 7:52 pace for this run- there would have been nothing if I would have pushed it. 

I did a version of my old overpass loop for the most part it was all in the dark. Glad to get the body working again. From yesterday at 5 p.m before my run to this morning (7 a.m) after my run I lost just over 10 lbs.  Plus I had a really sweaty nights sleep. Yuck!

(Blue Cumulus- 501.3) 

8 mile run this afternoon. Nothing real amazing. It was hot but you can kind of feel it cooling off a little. GS loop.

(Red Stratus- 498.5) 

13.1 mile run this morning. An uneventful half marathon this morning. I can feel my body getting better but it still feels like I'm dragging around a dead horse. But there is improvement. Yesterdays run was at an avg. of 7:52 and todays run was at the same effort and for the most part the same course and I hit an avg of 7:28... still a little slow but coming around. Hopefully I'll be ready to hammer something on Saturday for the workout and really get the legs turning over again. 

(Landreth- 414.3) 

9.1 mile loop up the Middleton trail and around GS- then home the longer way. I'm loving the fact that afternoon runs are becoming more and more doable and not so taboo due to the heat.

(White Cumulus- 500) 

13.6 mile run this morning. As far as the sickness goes I think I'm back to normal. The only thing that I can complain about this morning is a very sore hammy. Please go away!

I did the new overpass/ Dogtown loop extended on both ends. Morning runs right now are just amazing. I could live my whole life in September-November with STG weather. For some reason I'm really excited to watch football tomorrow- after the long run of course.

(New Landreth- 128.5) 

8.2 mile run at noon. I ran from my house down past Costco to the river trail and then over to the DC where Mik'L picked me up. I wanted to do kind of a tweener type run. Not tempo or even tinman tempo but faster than normal. I avg. 6:40 for the 7.6 miles down there and then did .6 cool down while I waited for Mik'L. Good little run and now I'm going to relax the rest of the day and get ready for a Big Workout tomorrow morning. 

(Blue Stratus- 495.9) 

18 miles this morning as part of a bigger workout. The plan was to run from the running store up around Snow Canyon park to where the road meets the marathon course and then hammer the miles from there down. So it was 9.5 miles up there and 7.5 miles down and we did one mile cool down. 

Steve Abraham Lincoln came this morning and we met up with Logi Bear then Steve drove up a few miles to start. I had massive stomach problems today. Worse than ever for a total of 3 roadside stops. Even though I had some tummy issues I put together a really solid workout. Last year I ran this same loop and hit an avg. of 5:20 pace for the 7.5 miles down. Today with the stomach issues I still hit an avg. of 5:12 pace. So I'm very happy about the improvement.

Splits: This year/ Last year

1. 5:11/ 5:23

2. 5:08/ 5:14

3. 5:37/ 5:34- up the Winchester Hill and had a potty stop under the bridge like a Troll.

4. 5:07/ 5:17

5. 5:01/ 5:21

6. 5:13/ 5:24- Trying to hold off another potty stop. 

7. 5:05/ 5:16

.5 5:07/ 5:13 pace.  

Really good splits with the issues. I really felt like I could have gone faster so thats nice to have up the sleeve. However I did feel like I was rolling and the sad part is that Logan worked me like a dawg. He must have hit like an avg of 5:05 pace or something crazy fast like that. We did just one mile of cool down but I had another potty stop and it was time to be done. I might try to get out for a short shake out this afternoon. 

(SS- 220) 

16 miles this morning as part of a Big Workout. Logan and I met up at the DC at 4:30 a.m... we missed Dave this morning. We decided to do a 7 mile warm up before we started our 7 miles at MP. Stating out I felt fine but as we got into the warm up both of us felt our legs getting heavier and heavier. After last Saturday's workout this was to be expected. We were hesitant to even start the tempo but decided to see what happened.

The 7 miles back to the DC at marathon pace turned out to be very uplifting. I ran an avg of 5:39 pace for the 7 miles for a total of 39:33 for the tempo. I was very pleased with this considering how trashed the legs felt before we even started. Somehow I just took it one mile at a time and worked through the tempo- I tried to keep Logan in view and did so until the last mile and a  half where he pulled away.

It was nice and cool this morning and the moon was out in full force making visibility a lot better than normal. It was almost bright enough that you could have gone hiking or something out off the trail. Kind of a majestic feeling. Then we did a short cool down over by Southgate GC and Logan puked his guts out- Twice! Glad to be done with that one. 

(Black Stratus- 168.5) 

3.4 mile run up around the trails above Middleton. The schedule had an optional run for this afternoon so I just wanted to do a short little loop to test the legs and see how stiff they'd be. They felt stiff but in a good way. I'm feeling really good right now and starting to get excited and a little nervous... Mik'L says it's too early for that. 

(Blue Cumulus- 504.7) 

10.7 miles  this morning. I was slow getting around this morning, and not just running. I slept in until 7 a.m and it took one hour to get out of the house and get the run started. I don't drink alcohol but sometimes I wake up and feel like I could have a hang over from something.  I guess in this case it was the 7 or 8 slices of pizza, and the shake with (2 bananas, frozen yogurt, soy milk, peanut butter, and Nestle Quick) that I had for dinner last night. 

So the run was just laid back and I tried to just relax and listen to the ipod. I only run with it once in a while and today it was a must. My legs felt really heavy and the quads were sore which is rare.

(New Landreth- 139.2) 

7.3 mile run this evening. It had rained pretty hard and I thought this would be a nice time to go up on the trails a look for turtles. So I was running up the trail scanning everything in places where I've spotted them before and I had this feeling like: It would be cool to see a baby one and I started looking at everything a little closer and about .2 farther up the trail I saw a tinny little turtle. Maybe just a little bigger than an egg. It's neck and legs where as little as a straw. I could have stepped on it so easy. It makes me wonder how many turtles that small have I ran by before. It was really cool to see out there in the wild. I hope the little guys makes it.

The running part was ok. My legs are really sore and dead. I'm guessing Saturday and Mondays runs right on top of each other did the trick. I'm really having some delayed soreness. I did a few more today so tomorrow can be shorter as I'll be working in Mesquite... again although it's a different project than last week. 

10 miles this morning in the dark. Out and back up into GS. When I left there was a giant toad in my driveway and I tried moving it with my foot but it was asleep. Then I went for the run and came back and it was gone. Too bad because I was going to catch him and keep it as a pet!

(Landreth- 424.3) 

5 easy miles this afternoon after a grueling day at work. I'm just trashed. This was the old skool GS/ church loop.

(White Cumulus- 505) 

15 miles tonight as I attempted to do the 1000m big workout. What a bust this was. I found out I'm don't have what it takes to do 1000m repeats. We have had three big 1000m workouts this summer and I only made it through one of them... However this has been one of the most physically challenging work weeks ever for me. So the odds of me doing a great workout tonight after a long couple days of working down in Mesquite were very low. 

I talked Mik'L into coming along on the bike. So we started up at the top of the trail where in comes out into the housing development by the river. I warmed up for 4.5 miles down to the restroom by the DC and had a potty stop then started the Tinman tempo of 2 miles. We hit that in 11:53 and that took us down by Bloomington GC and I had to "Go" again so we went down a little farther to the bottom of the trail to hit the porta potty. The I started the 1000's from there back up the trail. I hit the first one pretty hard trying to get a feel for how this would work as I just had to keep an eye on the garmin and stop when it showed .64- I hit the first one in 3:13. Then we worked up to a spot where Mik'L could sit while I did the rest of them up and back. I started the 2nd one and it felt hard as now it was dark and finding a pace was beyond me. I got pushed off the trail by three bikes who wouldn't share and all but stopped- but I finished on out to hit a 3:23. Now back down for the 3rd one. The trail was clear and I should be able to really start to roll... I felt like I was working my brains out and I hit a 3:25. That's all folks! I really felt like this workout was starting to do more harm than good and I was done. Did I ever mention how much I hate speed work? Well I do.

We still had a good journey just to get back to the car and I stuck it into 7:00 min pace back up the trail. I was frustrated and mad but more than anything I was just wore out. I was glad to have Mik'L along side because it would have been too much for me to be down there alone and to have fallen apart like that. I don't think I'll ever start another 1000m workout again in my life.

(Black Stratus- 183.5) 

12.6 mile run this morning to kind of take my mind off last nights nightmare on the trail. I took it easy and just tried to get through the run- the Ipod was a lifesaver today. My diaphragm got tight during the last 3 miles- the first time in like 2 months. I really don't need that to start acting up. 

(White Cumulus- 517.6) 

I'll try an get a few more this afternoon before we go camping.  

23 mile long run with Logan and Dave. Logan and his wife and me and Mik'L camped up at Oak Grove last night and then Dave met us up there and we ran back on the dirt road that follows the base of Pine Valley Mt. This run is a over the river and through the woods type run up and down most the time. We were all trashed by the end. We ended up leaving about a half hour behind schedule and that made things warmer than we would have liked. A good run though and nice to put the 100 mile weeks behind me for the year. I'm really looking forward to some tapering. After the run I went to see April for a massage and she really worked me over good. Note to self: Don't run 23 miles and then jump right on the table for a massage... ever, ever again.

(New Landreth- 162.2) 

Looking forward to my first week of the taper. I'm pretty sore from a trip to April on Saturday so I'm really looking forward to when that pain goes away and the taper starts to hit too. I should be well rested and ready to race- hard! (That "hard" is in a Boston accent)

Last week was my Animal Planet week. While running in the wild I saw a:

Toad, Baby Turtle, Several Turkey's, A small Fox, Tarantula, and over heard a pack of coyotes howling at the moon early one morning before the sun came up. Kind of fun!  

Also while driving from Mesquite to STG I saw a rare desert big horn sheep way up on the skyline.  

10.5 mile run this morning. It was only going to be 10 miles but I miscalculated how far it would be from the house over to the office via Bloomington Hills- close enough though. I felt really good for a Monday. Surprising considering how bad I ate over the weekend. Yesterday I put away a big Sunday dinner and finished it off with 5 pieces of pie! That was my last fling for the next couple weeks. 

This morning I just tried to run "in the flow" and take it easy. For much of the trip it seemed I was at 6:30-40 pace and it was effortless. Ended up with a 6:48 avg for the run. The plan is to just feel stronger and stronger every day of this taper. I'll be right around 75 miles this week.  

(Blue Stratus- 506.4) 

7 miles this morning. Mik'L came along on the bike and we did an out and back in GS. It was 59 degrees this morning at my house- the first time since last spring that it has been in the 50's. Not too much more to report today. 

(Red Stratus- 505.5) 

5 easy miles this afternoon. For how cool it was this morning it sure felt warm this afternoon. I'm excited to do the big workout tomorrow morning so I can work off some of this back fat I put on over the weekend. 

The title for todays 15 mile Big Workout is: When the Levee Breaks

Today I finally paid the piper for my weekend and Monday of gluttony and the Levee did break at home before the run, during the run, and at home after the run. So it sucked but I finally lost the back fat that I'd put on over the weekend.

Running wise I actually felt really good. We did a 5.5 mile warm up and then 4x4 min fartlek's at CV pace with a 2 min recovery jog in between and then around 5 of cool down to finish of the 15 miles.

During the Fartlek's I didn't restart my garmin on each one but just tried to keep Logan fairly close- every time I looked at the pace it was around 5:07- 5:10. So I'm guessing each one was in that ballpark. I really felt pretty good on all of them until the forth and then by the end of that one I needed a bathroom stop again.

I feel really good about where I'm at in preparation for the marathon. The legs, lungs, heart, and even my brain is ready for a breakthrough race. My only worry is my stomach and maybe my diaphragm. Hopefully I can control my diet enough in the next two weeks to eliminate my stomach as a possible "bummer" and pray that the diaphragm doesn't act up either. If I can get those two things to work with me on race day things could go very well.

(SS- 235)  

7 mile run this morning out and back into GS. The legs were not sore from yesterdays big workout but they sure were sluggish. I couldn't get anything going to save my hind end. I may try some barefoot running tonight to try and bring my form back around. Hopefully I'll get a little flow back in my roll. 

(New Landreth- 169.2) 

5.5 miles this afternoon. Up the Middleton trail and around. I didn't make it over to do some barefoot running on the grass so that is on the agenda sometime. I did feel a little smoother than this morning but not a lot. Time to make some pancakes for lunch/ dinner.  

7.2 miles up Middleton trail and around GS. I felt the need for a little more that what was on the schedule today. I just kept the pace smooth and relaxed and had a really good run. I stayed up way too late last night watching the game. USC just blew their season with that game against Oregon St. I really wish the college system was different and had a playoff formate so when teams lost one game during the regular season it wouldn't just drop them off the face of the planet. Bummer!

(Landreth- 431.5) 

5 miles this afternoon around the GS/ Church loop. I was going to do some grass but opted to settle a shoe decision instead. I've been going back and forth about what shoe to wear at STM. My old Asics Ohana's or a newer pair of Asics Speedstars. The Ohana's are magical and I have some solid history in that particular pair. However the Speedstars are new and I've worn this model in STG the last two years. So today I took the Ohanas out for a run to see what they felt like... sad but they are shot. I've know this all summer but somehow they were just begging to race one more time. I'll just go with the Speedstars. I've only wore this particular pair for 49.4 miles and they should be ready for a good race.

The run it's self was good. I just tried to be very fluid and efficient while doing the test run in the Ohanas. I ended up with a avg of 6:50 for the run and it felt like I was coasting.

(Ohana Racers- Retired for now, maybe a few speed workouts sometime) 

15 miles this morning in a different order than normal. I met up with the Circle of Trust at the Swiss days 5k so Logan could run it. There we did a couple warm up miles with Logan and then the race started and Dave and I did a couple more.... we ended up missing the finish. The we all headed out again until I had to turn around because of time. I had to get our car back to Mik'L so she could go to a meeting. So total with Circle of Trust was 7.85 miles. I ran a couple miles under 6 min pace on the way back to the car and then drove across town (20 min's) and talked to Mik'L at the house for a few and then went back out to finish up for the day. That was the hard part- Going back out and trying to get into the progression tempo mode again. The first mile back into it was around 7:15 pace and my hammy was really tight now. I kept trying to increase the pace until the last mile was around 5:45 and then a half mile cool down. 

Kind of a fun morning over at the race. It was nice seeing everyone and got the nerves going for next Saturday. Hopefully I can stretch this hammy out over the week and be ready to go. I can't believe we're already here... 

5 mile run this morning up in GS. When I got up by the golf course restroom at the top part of GS, and right as the sun was coming up I saw a pack of 3 coyotes run right across the road in front of me. Kind of cool to see them out on the prowl and up to no good. It reminded me of the Circle of Trust and all our early mornings this summer. 

I just took the run nice and easy and tried to work into this week. My left hammy has been really sore all weekend so I may have to do an emergency visit to April... It depends on how it feels this evening. We have a mini Big workout and I'll decide after that.

As I was showering I wondered: What would life be like if I only ran 5 miles a day?

(New Landreth- 174.2) 

9 miles this evening in a mini Big Workout. 4.5 mile warm up from the DC up the holly trail at an avg of 6:55 pace. Then at the end of the trail I turned around and started my 2x1 mile workout with 2 min's recovery. First mile I got out nice and smooth and felt like I was going fast but very relaxed I looked at the Garmin and I was going 4:40 pace at around .65 so I quickly backed off and hit the mile in 5:07. I had no intention of going that fast and worried coming into the workout alone that I'd struggle to even get the legs going at all. On the second mile I wanted to go slower than the first but not fall off the pace. So I worked into a controlled groove and hit the mile in 5:17- and that was that. The end of all my speed workouts for the year. I finished off by doing a cool down for the rest of the mileage back to the DC at 6:50 pace.  I was feeling pretty good. The warm up and cool down were both faster than I would have liked on paper but I really was just running easy and very smooth. 

(SS#2- 58.4)

I had some bad news today. On our way to the temple Mik'L told me that she had gotten a text that said one of my childhood friends had committed suicide last night. This was very sad to hear. I basically lived with him and his twin brother for about three years through the end of middle school and first part of high school. The three of us went through countless scouting, church, and community adventures. I grew apart from him and his brother as we got older and left high school but I'll always remember the good times we shared. What a shame. I haven't found out what day the funeral is... but there is a chance that it will be on Saturday and a chance that I'll miss the STG marathon and go support his parents and siblings.  

2 mile run this evening down to the corner and back. Just a short little shake out today.

Here is my crazy news.... I've posted this same thing in some replies on the subject from yesterdays entry.

Sorry to involve all of you-