Clyde's Comeback!

Ran the summer tempo loop in reverse out down River Road then out around the fields. Extended around the schools and park. Didn't know it was going to be within a tenth of a mile in distance as yesterdays run but it was. Felt slow almost the entire run and the wind beat me down for a good portion of the run from the Washington bridge all the way back through the fields and into the park. Finished with a 7:09 avg and it didn't feel that fast. 

Around the B-hills loop. Took my time and tryed to relax- maybe the legs will turnover tomorrow at the relay. Or maybe they won't. I don't really care.

Ran the Expedition Relay here in STG today with Bill, Mike, Dustin B, and Stephen. It's a 50 mile 5 member team event that loops around the city. We started out behind the DSC team in the very first leg and never caught them again.

My first leg was the 4th leg of the race and ran from the Snow canyon entrance down SR19 into town. But not on the road. It was on the paved trail on the side of the road that's much harder to run. The road follows a more smooth grade on both the climbs and the drops. But the trail has some steep little climbs and very steep drops that make it hard to keep the momentum rolling. I started this leg and we were about 105 seconds behind the college boys. I took it out as hard as I dared and kept a pretty solid pace throughout. And by the end of the leg I had cut the gap down to 9 seconds and I averaged 5:18 pace for that 7.3 mile section. 

My last leg was the 10th and final leg of the race. We got in trouble in earlier legs and were at one point around 5 min's back from the boys. But Dustin B ran a solid 8th leg and cut off at least 2 mins maybe 2:30. Then Mike ran and I never heard his final split but it looked like he held his own and I'm guessing we were around 2:30-2:45 back from the kids when I took off. I knew that in a 5.7 mile leg I had the time to catch them and so I just dug in. Hit the first mile in 5:14 and it looked like I had almost cut the gap in half. By the Man o war bridge and 2.5 miles into it their lead was only 50 seconds. So now it's up the river trail and finishing around the same way as the STG half does behind the DC. By the time we got to the I-15 freeway bridge I was only 15 seconds back and thought that with about a mile still to go I'd get him for sure. But then my wheels feel off... Once we hit the wooden bridge next to the DC we were both on it at the same time and the gap was less than 10 seconds. But I couldn't close. Couldn't get anything else other than to maintain the now 8 second gap. As we raced up the trail to the turn our teammates from both teams were running along with us both. Yelling and screaming "GO, Your gonna do it, ect". It was kind of fun and kind like hell because my poor quads would take no more pounding and just before  we turned off the trail to the side road I actually started to slow and let him go. But a couple seconds later once on the side road I caught a little gas and banged hard for 100 yards closing the gap to less than 5 seconds and we rounded the final corner and the finish line was right there. I just didn't have enough space to close anymore of a gap and so it goes... we lost.  Kind of a fun day and race. The finish was super exciting and would have been great had I been able to muster the win. My 5:33 avg on that 5.7 mile leg wasn't enough to close the gap. But the DCS boys were on cloud nine and in the end it was fun to see them so pumped to beat a bunch of old guys.

Regular DC loop. Went out and planned on cutting it short a long the lines somewhere. But never did. The legs (quads) are really sore from the thrashing I gave them Saturday. Their just not use to that kind of pounding and they weren't fully recovered from the Grand Canyon run a couple week earlier. So today was painful but some how I just kept grinding around the loop and when I woke up I was all the way around and done. 7:19 avg but it didn't even feel that fast. Looking forward to a full recovery and then using this relay as a good jump start on some much needed speed work to prepare for the half marathon in January. 

DC loop then extended around Little Valley at the end. Legs still felt pretty sore this morning and it had worked it's way into the calves but the run was much more comfortable than yesterday. Forgot to start the gps so total time for the run was 1:25:15

Logan came over early and we headed out for my standard loop. It was 22 F out but I dressed for it with double tights and bigger gloves so I never really was cold. We made our way around the loop and then I made Logan extend around Little Valley before we came back to the house and hit 11.6 miles. He had to get to school but I did one lap around the school/park loop to finish off a couple more miles and hit a even 14 miles for the day at 7:23 avg. Slow I know but tis the season. 

Started out this morning not in the mood to run at all. Almost bagged it because I was trashed, everything ached and it seemed chilly out at 22 f. But I just went through the motions and headed out around Stone Cliff then into B-hills and finished around the park to hit 10 slow miles. I had to get home and go help Mik'L do some property inspections so we did that for a couple hours then came home. Then I took Myler out in the jogger and slugged out 4.3 more around my Little Valley loop. Nothing fun or pretty this morning... just got in some miles. 

An awful run today. Got an upset stomach last night which really got things flowing if you know what I mean. Then got up this morning and felt so so. Had some oatmeal and cleaned the house for a while... then after some time decided I could try a run. It was just grueling. From the start I was laboring way more than I should have but kept grinding it out over to the DC and down into Bloomington- then around that loop and back up by the freeway. Through 12 miles it sucked but I was able to just keep grinding. From mile 12-13 I started to die and it was a rough mile. No stomach issues rather just zero energy. From mile13-14 I did better and regrouped. But then at mile 14 I lost it and just wanted food and to be done asap. Had to walk/ run back home. It was a horrible day at the office for me. Hope to refuel really good and see if that was the issue. Ate about 3000 calories when I got home then soaked in a hot bath. Now I need a big nap. 

Didn't run until this evening. Went out up by the new airport and around through the fields. Felt kind of blah for the first half and almost cut it short at mile 2. But kept slugging along. Then about mile 6 I started to feel great. Hit a porta potty and rolled back home. By the end of the run I felt fantastic. Good way to end the week. We had a yard sale this morning and basically sold a bunch of junk we didn't use anymore... walked away from it with $900! Crazy. Yesterday I was wondering if we would make enough to pay for our newspaper ad of $22 bucks. 

DC loop extended around Little Valley. It was warmer this morning because of the cloud cover. 33 F but once the sun came up the clouds kept it out so it never really warmed or will warm throughout the day. I didn't take a watch but the pace felt pretty slow. Just having a hard time getting anything going lately. Somewhere along the line I need to start doing some speed workouts but right now the legs seem to be too heavy. 

Did the DC/ Man-o-war bridge loop but in reverse. Slow going at first but once I was warmed up around 4 miles in things started to click. Ended up around a 6:55 avg for the run. Best run in a week or so. Nothing amazing but it was nice to run without feeling like the legs were 3,000 lbs each. 

Logan and Dave came over early this morning and the three of us hit up the standard DC loop. Other than a short little detour over to the golf course potty for me. Kind of chilly and frosty all over this morning but after we got going I felt pretty good. 7:08 avg for the run. 

Woke up at 5 and turned the alarm off that was set for 5:30. Then laid there til 6:30 and finally drug myself out of bed. For some reason it was a struggle getting up and out today. But once out I felt strong and complete for the first time in a few weeks. At least since pre Grand Canyon. I didn't have a lot of time for the run because Mik'L had a early morning meeting and I piddled away my time in bed. So I just did the middle B-hills loop and extended around Little Valley at the end. Got home just in time to get the wife out the door on time for her meeting and save myself an ear full later:)

P.M. Hit the same loop again in the same direction. Felt strong again. Didn't have a watch but kept it up tempo so I could get home to go to our company Christmas party. Got home and showered and was ready to roll in under 15 min's. Yeah I'm fast:)

Stone Cliff and then the DC loop. Felt so so when I started this morning with temps around 27 F. Hit the first mile in 7:53 and slowly got rolling. By mile 3 I was floating a long at 6:45 pace fairly effortlessly. Kept it smooth and ended with a 6:52 overall avg. 

Met up at the DC at 5:30 a.m for and early morning and chilly (24F) run. The circle of trust and Stephen. We wanted to run the new STG half course and see how she rolls out.
Did a couple while we waited for Logan to show then hit the half course. It sucks. Lots of hills up through B-hills and around the backside of Webb hill over to the freeway. Then we hit another river loop to push out a little over 20 for the day. All of us were trashed by the last lap but still managed to roll along at sub 6:40 pace. Ended up with a 7:03 avg for the run and we stared out very slow for about 4 or so.

Went to the ward Christmas party after. Myler sat on Santas lap for the first time. He wants a truck and a car and for Santa to make them green cause green means go! His words not mine.

Longish run this morning. Mik'L took Myler to her mom's so I had a little more time to run today before the other days activities started. Hit the DC loop but extended down into Bloomington and around it's loop. Felt fairly good but not super strong. From the park back to the house I dug a little deeper and caught the 7 min guy. So ended the 17.2 mile run in 2:00:04 and a 7:00 overall avg. Now to start delivering the 100+ gifts to our clients. My wife thinks or expects me to do it all today... we'll see. 

Over to the park then B-hills and out to the freeway. Then down in to Blooninton and up the trail to River Road and finally back home. Felt a little tired this morning and struggled to get any groove going. 7:06 avg. 29 F this morning. 

10.1 miles this morning at 5:30 with Dave and Logan for the new, cruel and unusual running club meeting. Did the park/ freeway loop. Kept it honest from the start and then Logan started pushing the pace as we got into B-hills. The last couple miles were under 6 min pace and we tied the 7 min guy as we entered my cul de sac. Nice push this morning. Good to get the legs turning over again and the lungs using a more than comfortable amount of O2. 26 F out but felt comfy once we were rolling.

2.4 miles to cool off after the I got done with the  guys. Just looped the park. Felt good to cool the legs off after a solid push at the end of our 10 miler. 

DC loop but extended up around Morningside one the first part. Then extended around Little Valley at the end. Just kept it smooth and picked it up only the last mile or so to tie the 7 min guy at the line. Right now he and I are running right at the same level. 7:00 avg

Same loop as yesterday. I started out and just wanted to take it EZ and try to relax. I want to do some kind of longer workout tomorrow morning so I didn't want to use any of the legs today. So through 6 or so miles I was just running laxi taxi but looked at the time and was still faster than I ran yesterday. So I stayed in that groove and pushed a little harder on the last mile. Ended with a 6:52 avg beating yesterdays time of a 7 min avg. Plus it was finally good to drop the 7 min guy. He's been talking a lot of smack all week and I had to remind him of his limitations.

Well this is a tale of the run that almost never happened. I didn't have a plan last night and got to bed late. Then didn't wake up and didn't want to go out this morning. So I bagged it. We got some projects done here at the house and did some shopping before noon. Then I got hungry and had Burger King for lunch.... We got home and by around 2 p.m I decided to go out.

In the beginning it was trouble. The Burger King wasn't sitting well at all and I came close to barfing or just laying down on the trail. Hit a couple porta potties which helped the situation and kept grinding. Never let the dogs out but kept it honest the entire run. Hit a solid 8 mile section up and down the river trail right around 6 min pace and finished the run with a 6:27 avg. Nothing amazing and it never felt that great but it's done. The one thing I had going for me was the weather. 55 F, sunny and no wind. It was just amazing. So in the end the lesson learned is just get up and run first thing- get it out of the way and then you've got the rest of the day to eat and chillax. 

Been feeling a little sick since Christmas eve. Today it was worse then the last two. We had family in town and were going golfing. I knew I didn't have it in me to serve two masters today so I bagged the run. Good choice because I just felt rotten and golfing would have even been worse if I'd have ran before. 

Waited til mid day to get out. Then met Mike W over at the DC to run the STG half course. We did 1.4 before to go drop a water and then came back and restarted the watch at the beginning of the half. Mike kept it solid the entire run and our avg for the half was 6:46 pace or a 1:28:30. Not bad at all for him considering this course sucks (very hilly) and he ran 20 miles the day before. He's doing great and running better than I've ever know him to. Boston should be a great race for him with a sub 3hr a very realistic goal. 

After the half we jogged one mile to cool him down. Good run today. I still feel sickish. Head, throat and lots of snot in the nose. Makes me really appreciate being fully healthy. I feel like Superman when I'm not weighted down with some health issue. 

Did the southern parkway loop. Started out around the park and then hit the parkway down into Sun River. Connected to the river trail there and took it up to our office. Ended the run there because we left Mik'L's car there last night and so she took my truck to work. Felt pretty blah today. Still fighting a sickness off. Really drug it for the first 5 miles or so. Finished with a 6:45 avg. 

Did not want to run today. Took forever to get out the door and I felt horrible doing it. Still trying to get over this head cold but after last night I'm not taking any more Nyquil. It just leaves me feeling so jacked in the morning. Anyways once out I just tried to put one foot in front of the other and it was basically work for the entire run. Looped the old tempo loop course out through the fields. Then I hit the Mesquito trail and tried to hit as much of the river trail as I could back to river road. 6:55 avg and glad to be done. 

Regular DC loop. Today was the worst so far. Just hurt and felt like crap. Pushed through and hit an avg of 7:10 so pretty slow compared to the rest of the week. I'm heading up to Torrey and will be ice fishing tomorrow on the Boulder Mt. So today will be my last run of the year. Glad to have just gone over 3,800 miles for the year. Hope to keep the ball rolling for years to come and maybe bust a few good races off here and there.