Refillable lead pencil's were so cool in elementry

13 mile run this morning with Steve and Logan. We ran out by the new airport construction and did a loop around Blue Bunny ice cream area and then back to the Hoopers. It was a nice morning and the run was good. Only my hamstring really hurt again. By the end of the loop I was ready to be done. I was thinking about extending to hit 15 this morning but it just hurt too bad. We'll have to figure that out. Now it's off to AZ to get the teeth fixed. Bummer! 

9.1 miles here in PHX. I ran my regular trail here by the hotel and then up to the canal. I was up way too early for being on vacation but I had to get it over to get in to the dentist early. Here we go...

Well what a day at Uncle Dent the dentists office. We found out that the tooth in the very back on the top, left side of my mouth was so bad and the roots were so wierd that a root canal might not have worked... so I got the sucker pulled. So that kind of jacked the system up- along with the drugs for the pain. So no running the rest of this day. Plus my wife wouldn't let me go no matter what anyways.

9.1 mile run early again on the same course as yesterday. I felt pretty good for having narcotics in the system- and a pretty good loss of blood due to the pulled tooth. Back to the dentist again this morning for a couple fillings. blah!  7 min pace avg for the run. 

11.1 mile run this afternoon. I left from the hotel and ran the same rote I've been doing however I just went out a little farther. Out 5.55 miles at 7:16 pace- back 5.55 miles at 6:46 pace. I must have been feeling good on the way back because both directions were very flat but on the way back I had a good head wind and still was much faster. However with two miles to go my diaphragm started to feel really sore on the right side. I've come to two solid conclusions while running down here. 

1. The elevation makes a BIG difference on me. Every time I go running down here I'm doing the same effort as I do at home and I run around 20-45 seconds a mile faster on these training runs.

2. Something about being here in Phoenix makes my diaphragm act up. I've been coming down here with my wife on these trips for the past 6 or so years. 3 or so of those years I've been running while on the trips and every time my diaphragm starts to hurt at one point or another. Why? I'm not sure...

15.3 mile run today. I didn't get in until very late (early this morning). So I was trashed and didn't get up until around 10:30. So I just went out for one good run today instead of two. Went up to the overpass and then over to the tunnel under the freeway and then back around to the house. It was pretty windy out and that started to get annoying fast. But other than that the run was pretty good. For some reason I've got a good size blister on the left big toe! Why me?

12.2 mile run this morning around the overpass loop. Nothing really amazing going on, other than it's a little chilly all of the sudden. My hamstring has been feeling better but not good so I'll try and see April this weekend. 

One last dentist note. After pulling my bad tooth the other day and looking things over he said he couldn't believe that I wasn't sick. Because the tooth it's self was full of so much infection he said my body should have been braking down more... and only because I was running and so healthy did I avoid that fate. He also mentioned several times that had I taken care of this issue earlier this year when it first started to really hurt I would have run faster in my workouts and races this summer. He wasn't joking about it either.

So thats my solace for this years not-so-good racing performances. Now if I can fix this hamstring problem maybe I'll put together a very nice 2009?  

10.1 mile run this evening with the club. We did the 7 mile loop from the store and then Dave and I extended a little down to the Pizza Factory roundabout and back. A little chill in the air but overall great running weather. The time change sucks and now we run in the dark for club runs. 

9.6 mile loop up to the overpass. Hamstring is pretty sore today. Nice and crisp out this morning. 

7.3 mile loop up the trail and around GS this evening. I've had a very long and busy day and this run was the last thing I wanted to do. The first 4 miles felt like pooh and then I started to loosen up a little. Now its off to do baptisms for the dead with the young men or man because only one can come tonight.  

Today I reached two milestones. I hit 4,000+ miles for the year and also passed my 2007 total of 4,015. I guess I'll celebrate with one more good piece of sourdough bread and butter.  

18.25 miles run today with Dave. We met up out at Snow Canyon High (and the finish of the half marathon) so we could get our run in and watch the finishers. We headed up to the parkway and out to Kayenta and back. It was a solid little run. We avg. 7:12 for the run so nothing amazing but an even push all the way around. I was way glad I chose to not race today. Race pace right now sounds like death. It was a beautiful sunny morning out and we enjoyed ourselves. 

Congrats to all the stud half marathon runners! Even Logan the Soccer coach? 

8.6 mile run around GS and on the trails. It's always nice to run out in the desert after a good rain. The trails are nice and packed so your not peeling out in the sand all the time. It was really cool this morning, and very wet in the air. I'm not a big fan of east cost type weather. I had enough of that in England thanks. The run was pretty good. It took a long time to get going and I could tell that April had worked me over good because the muscles were still pretty sore. I'm also really glad to finally be off antibiotics. I got some at the dentist last week to kill the infection and the course took forever (6 days). The whole time I've just felt like I was taking med's if you know what I mean.  

8 mile run this afternoon. I did the industrial park loop only I started withe the industrial park first and did the long climb up to the water tank. Ugh! I forgot what a Mutha that one was. Going up the other way on the trails is steeper but it doesn't drag on like this way. Anywho the run went ok once I reached the top.  

12.5 mile run this morning. I ran up over the Dixie road to the junction above the running store and then down around the black hill to the office. I never really got going this morning and things felt really sluggish but I still hit the run in 1:33:00. Not amazing by any means but considering I felt pretty flat- a good run. The hamstring feels a degree better than it did last week. Hopefully April's massage on Saturday will start to kick in and maybe it will finally loosen up. 

10 miles this evening. I ran back from Mik'L's friends house out in little valley. She was getting her hair done and I thought it would be a nice change of pace. I forgot that in doing so I'd have to run the hill up out of the fields. I cut it off on Telegraph and went up over by Best Buy and then extended around Middleton. I was surprised when I got home to see that I was right on 10 miles for distance. Avg 7:20 pace.  

9.2 miles this morning out in the desert and around GS. The hammy was a little more sore this morning that is has been all week. In fact last night it felt as good as it has in months. So I'll most likely spend some time rolling it out on the softball today. 

I was also going to make a note that yesterday was the first day this fall that you could see snow on Pine Valley Mt. I guess winter is coming.  

7.8 mile run this evening. Same loop as this morning but not extended. Nothing really cool or amazing to say other than it's in the books.  

6.5 mile run at 3 p.m. I didn't get out this morning and was busy all day until this afternoon. Felt really good and tried to just stay relaxed before the club run. I just did the standard GS loop before having to go pick Mik'L up and then head to the running store. 

9 mile run at 5 p.m with the club. We did the 7 mile loop and then laps around the running store shopping complex to get to 9. I felt pretty trashed on this run.  

0 a big fat goose egg today. I didn't have time to run, nor did I feel like it. I took a trip up north and back today to buy a Jeep. After all the messing around I finally got home and was dead. 

9.2 miles this morning up around GS and home around Middleton. I slept in and was out the door by 7:30 (how's that for a Saturday). It was a beautiful morning and rather warm for the time of year. After the run I came home and spent the rest of the day with Mik'L before she left on her trip to Arizona, and Florida. 

 16.6 miles this afternoon after I dropped Mik'L off at the shuttle that takes her to the airport. Now me and the doggies are home alone and sad. The run however was pretty good. I started at the Dixie Center and ran up the trail to the top and then back to the DC. That put me at 9.1ish. Then I got a drink and took some sports beans and ran down around Bloomington and back to finish off the day. I hit the entire run at 7:07 pace and never really pushed it. Knock on wood but my hamstring is starting to feel a little better. I can really tell a big difference from last week. So I'll stick to my plan of running easy miles with NO tempo, or speed work of any kind until this thing feels 100%.  It really makes me happy that it's at least moving in the right direction for the first time in months. 

After the run I stopped by In-and-Out Burger for two cheese burgers and some fries as my recovery supplements. I needed to refuel my protein and fatty Omega 3's. 

9.2 miles up the trail and around GS. I didn't leave until around 8:40 or so because some people were pruning our bushes around the side of the house and the dogs were getting crazy. Anyways by the time I was out running it was almost too hot. The weather is just magical right now. Last Thursday the 13th of November I saw kids out having a water balloon fight up in GS. Man I'm glad I live here! 

I felt good on the run. Just a little click of pain back in the hammy. I'll try to nurse it along this week and maybe have April work on it this Saturday. 

9.2 miles tonight. After a long day of cleaning and painting the nursery I finally got out. Not a bad run at all. I finished off the desert right at dusk and it was beautiful out there.

I posted a picture of my new set of wheels. As you can see my "green" all biking phase only lasted about 6 months. Hey I tried... 

11.1 miles this morning up around part of the overpass loop. Another great morning with sunny skies here in Zion. I've got a stack of honey-do's a mile long so it's time to get going. Mik'L can crack the whip from Arizona or Florida. 

8 mile industrial park loop. About the same time as last night run. It's really peaceful up there that time of day. The hammy is a little sore today, but I ran a little harder on Monday than I should have because it was feeling really good. So I'll have to keep the pace easy.  

8.7 miles this morning around GS and a shorter Middleton extension. I was flat this morning. Just could not get any turnover at all. Hope to eat good today and get some more rest and hopefully I'll be able to feel better before tomorrow. 

4.5 miles on the treadmill this morning. I was feeling pretty trashed last night and woke up with a cough in the middle of the night. So I took some cough medicine and that knocked me out the rest of the night and into the morning. I got up and finished painting and doing some work in the nursery then got a mini workout in. Hopefully I'll be ready to run tonight for the club run. 

10 mile run tonight with the club. We did an out and back on the parkway. Nothing amazing we just chatted and kept the pace at laxi taxi. I can still feel a little of last nights sickness or at least the medicine I took.